Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has made a bold claim on his team’s defensive structure following the emphatic win over Mamelodi Sundowns.
He claims teams find it difficult to create chances against his side nowadays.
The Soweto giants displayed their best performance of the season so far as they dismantled expensively assembled Mamelodi Sundowns 3-0 in the MTN8 semi final second leg on Saturday afternoon to book a spot in the final.
ORGANISED DEFENSIVELY
The Bucs were organised defensively for the entire 90 minutes defending as a collective as Masandawana were piling pressure in search of the much needed goals to keep them in the competition.
“I can only say good things about our defence phase, not our defence. We defend with 11 players, that’s one of the keys and one of the reasons why we’re getting these type of results. It’s no secret, everyone is involved in defensive phase nowadays in order to be a competitive team,” Riveiro told the media.
“We know we very strong in defending it’s not easy to create chances against Pirates nowadays and if we fully concentrated it’s a difficult mission for the opponent.
☠️ FT || @Masandawana 0 – 3 @orlandopirates
— Orlando Pirates (@orlandopirates) October 22, 2022
🥅 8' @Erasmus_95
🥅 83', 90'+ Saleng
⚫️⚪️🔴⭐️#Matchday #MTN8#OrlandoPirates#OnceAlways pic.twitter.com/bugY2XyhkR
“There is no other way to do it, in our opinion we try to convince the players to enjoy in the defence because it’s part of the game and we love the game. I think we won as a team, as a collective, we did what the game was asking us to do, that’s the key, that’s the reason why we in the final.”
RIVEIRO PRAISES COMPETITION
Riveiro further praised the competition in his defensive department, including goalkeeper Siyabonga Mpontshane.
“The players playing next to the goal have more responsibility and deficient in the situations of high pressure, but it’s no secret the level of our centre backs after four months of competition or three and a-half they showed it again also with Mpontshane with a very good performance,” Riveiro added.
The Happy People are now awaiting for either Kaizer Chiefs or AmaZulu who will battle out in the second semi final on Sunday afternoon. The first leg ended in a one all draw.
Kickoff at Moses Mabhida is at 15:30.
