Sekhukhune United coach Brendan Truter says Orlando Pirates are the favourites to going into the Nedbank Cup final on Saturday. The former Swallows FC and AmaZulu coach says the reason he believes this is because Pirates are on form, and they won the last Q-Innovation in the DStv Premiership.
But this could be a ploy from the wily trainer to disturb the Buccaneers and to make them lose focus ahead of the much-awaited encounter at the Loftus Stadium on Saturday night. Truter was speaking at the Nedbank Cup pre-final press briefing at the bank’s headquarters in Sandton on Thursday.
Pirates have featured and won numerous cup tournaments, including the MTN8 this season, while it is Ba Bina Noko’s first cup in the two seasons that they have been in the PSL.
“Pirates won the Q-Innovation and I want to congratulate them for this feat,” said Truter. “Their coach has done such a wonderful job, but we will go in there with a mindset of enjoying the occasion and winning the match. We will go out and put out a spectacle and our team is prepared for that.
“They have a cup pedigree, but we have a few players who have cup pedigree, and for the team, it is a big occasion and a historical event, and we just have to play the final and not the occasion.”
Truter also had words of praise for the Pirates coach Jose Riveiro, and said he is not just one of those overseas coaches who come to the PSL to make up the numbers.
“Jose has done a fantastic job since he arrived at Pirates. These are the kind of coaches we should be bringing to the PSL. He has added value to the PSL product and in helping our development in South Africa as a country where football is going.
“In terms of the improvements he has made at the club and at creating an identity as well. Pirates at this stage has an identity and they play attractive and attacking football. That’s how you want football to be played at the end of the day – with a clear identity and also with the striker’s coach. The club has bridged some gaps on foreign coaches coming into the country, it’s not just adding numbers, but adding quality to the league as well.”
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