Pirates Set To Go All Out Against Alger As They Eye CCL Last Eight Spot

Orlando Pirates’ coach Jose Riveiro says they’ll not leave any stone unturned when they host MC Alger in the CAF Champions League quarter-final second leg tonight.

Pirates One Foot Into The Semis

Pirates will welcome Alger to the Orlando Stadium (6PM SA kick-off) on the back of a 1-0 win away to the Algerians in the first leg a week ago.

That result also gave them a huge advantage of an away goal which put them in a good position to not only reach the semi-final for the first time since 2013, but the final as well.

It’s not a far-fetched reality as Pirates have been dominant on the continent this season, given that they are still the only unbeaten side since the start.

They were exceptional in the group stage as they finished top of Group C with 14 points, thanks to four wins and two draws.

Riveiro Keeping His Feet Firmly On The Ground

But Riveiro is not getting carried away thinking that the coveted African crown which has eluded them since 1995 is theirs for the taking this season.

“We believe that we can win tomorrow [tonight]. We have our chances to face the game with the intention to win, not thinking so much about what happened in Algeria,” Riveiro said.

“It’s true that we have a little bit of an advantage with the goal that we scored there, but still we have to think about the reasons why we are still alive in this competition.

“It’s about the way we want to play football, our personality and the way the guys want to express themselves, and tomorrow [tonight] we don’t want to be any different from that.”

Possibilities Of An All SA CCL Final Looms Large

A win for the Sea Robbers on Wednesday night will steer them to the semi-final in which they’ll face Pyramids of Egypt over a two-legged affair.

But after arch-rivals Mamelodi Sundowns beat Esperance 1-0 on aggregate in their own quarter-finals - after the second leg clash ended goalless in Tunisia on Tuesday - that has locals dreaming.

Members of the local football fraternity are already foreseeing an all South-African final in the continental showpiece which would be the first of its kind.

Bu Riveiro, who was speaking during his pre-match press conference ahead of the clash against Alger, reiterated that they are not thinking ahead of themselves.

“It’s [match-day] minus one. Can you imagine what’s on our minds now? It’s just all about the things that we have to do tomorrow [tonight] to deserve to be in the semi-final,” Riveiro said.

“We really want it - we have been fighting since day one this season to find ourselves in this scenario and be as competitive as we are.

“The way we’ve managed ourselves is just thinking about the next game. We want to win tomorrow [tonight], and over the weekend in the [Nedbank] Cup. That’s it!”

Riveiro's Future Is Still At Pirates

Riveiro is putting all his eggs in the clash against Alger, and is not even thinking about his future following the announcement that he’ll leave the club at the end of the season.

“We have a massive game tomorrow [tonight] that requires and demands our full concentration and best pacity as the technical staff,” said Riveiro who won five domestic trophies with the club in two-and-a-half years.

“The players are the ones who are going to work tomorrow [tonight] at 6 o'clock, so we need to 100% focus on that responsibility that is in front of us.

“There’s no space for anything else than to give our best tomorrow [tonight] - the time to think about our future is tomorrow [tonight].

“Even today [yesterday] we completed our training, so we need to continue with our preparations until we play the game. We’ll try our best [to win].

“Whatever will come in the future, we’ll see. But we are just about to play the game, so trust me, we are, including the coach, not thinking about anything other than winning it.”

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