Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro wants three points from the highly awaited Soweto derby against Kaizer Chiefs at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
The Spanish coach reckons that his squad is playing a beautiful brand of football, and is happy with the progress that is unfolding. Riveiro is also salivating about his first game at a fully packed FNB Stadium, and knows the kind of razzmatazz that will be created when fans ascend the gigantic stadium.
“We are improving week after week and we are starting to be very competitive. We are trying to implement and to consolidate, and the team is doing very well,” said Riveiro.
“We are getting closer to the team that we want in the future. We are playing for three points and we have to approach the game with calmness and focus. I hear people saying that Pirates are the favourites, we do not have to be the best team in South Africa, we just need to beat Kaizer Chiefs and get three points.
“This is one of the biggest games on the continent, I heard about this game as soon as I arrived in this country. It’s going to be a big party, especially with the derby being the first one after the strict Covid-19 regulations were lifted.
“The crowd will be loud and we will struggle to communicate with the players from the bench, it is going to be amazing.”
His Chiefs counterpart, Arthur “10111” Zwane, said he won his first derby when he was still playing for Pirates. He also won his maiden Soweto derby after joining Amakhosi. Now he is ready and is aware of the task that awaits him in his first derby as a coach.
“Most of the players did extremely well in the MTN8, even though they did not get the result that we wanted,” said Zwane.
“The players want to redeem themselves and my advice to them is to relax and focus ahead of this big encounter. The derby is about three points and bragging rights, and it is very important for me to win my first derby as a coach.
“We got a lot of knocks in the last match and we will know how healthy our players are by Friday. We do not need lady luck, we just need the prayers. We have worked very hard to be where we are, and we just need to play our best game against Pirates on Saturday.”
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