Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane and Orlando Pirates trainer Jose Riveiro have reacted to the tough MTN8 semifinal draw that was held on Monday night.
Pirates were drawn against the swashbuckling Mamelodi Sundowns while Chiefs got a more favourable draw against AmaZulu.
The semifinals are played over two legs, home and away and fans were eager to see who their teams will face.
The first legs will be played on 1 October with the return matches on the 22nd of the same month. The PSL will confirm venues, dates and the kick-off times at a later stage.
Coaches of the two Soweto giants agree that the semifinals are going to be very tough and exciting encounters. Amakhosi arrived back in Johannesburg on Monday night from Cape Town where they knocked Stellenbosch FC out of the cup via penalties.
“AmaZulu are doing very well at the moment and have been winning their league games and are now through to the finals and are playing against us. It’s going to be exciting,” said Zwane.
“They have assembled a very good squad with a good coach and a good technical staff and it’s going to be a difficult two legs journey. There are no easy games and for that matter, it’s knockout matches. It depends how we are going to approach them home and away and also how they are going to respond. Firstly, we are playing against them in a league game this weekend, we are looking forward to the game and hope to do well and reach the semi-finals,” Zwane added.
Said the Buccaneers Spanish coach Riveiro: “It’s going to be an interesting duel, it’s still almost like a month away to play the first game, so it is difficult to estimate now how good the team shall be at that moment in terms of fitness. It’s going to be attractive matches for the fans and plenty of emotions with two good teams and with a pitch full of quality players side to side. The result is probably going to be decided in the second game and my prediction is that it is going to be equal game and hopefully there will be plenty of goals until the end. We are very motivated to go all the way, and once you are in the semi-finals you expect good opponents and we got very good opponents. But we will be ready to be at a good level at that time,” said Riveiro.
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