Sekhukhune surprised Pirates coach with high press but not formation

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro says he predicted the formation opponents Sekhukhune United would use, but not their aggressive high press, as Bucs negotiated another fiery encounter to win the Nedbank Cup final on Saturday.

Sibusiso Vilakazi’s early strike at Loftus Versfeld, taking advantage of a defensive mix-up, for Brandon Truter’s fired-up Sekhukhune made life tough for Bucs.

They fought back through time added on strikes in each half.

Thapelo Xoki buried a penalty two minutes into referee’s optional time in the opening half, after Victor Letsoalo played the ball illegally while lying injured at the feet of Thembinkosi Lorch.

Terrence Dzvukamanja finished a superbly constructed build-up five minutes into second-half added time.

Riveiro was asked if he was surprised at how aggressively Sekhukhune came out, or expected it.

“No I knew nothing before. I would like to know before games what’s going to happen,” he replied.

“There was differing in opinion in the technical staff on what they were going to do. But I was pretty sure they were going to play 4-3-3 tonight, and not 5-3-2 like they did [in a 1-1 league draw against Bucs this month] in Orlando.

“Because it was the way they could fit their best players, and it was a final.

“That’s the identity of Sekhukhune and the way they play — in 20 games under Truter they only changed that in the one game they played in Orlando.

“I don’t want to sound like the smartest one. But you always try to play the game before it starts, and think the way the coach thinks about us.

“It had been a long time that nobody was pressing us high aggressively, and they did it tonight.

“That’s the thing I didn’t expect.

“And they surprised us with the high-pressing. That’s one of the things we tried to correct in the second half with the positioning of our centrebacks in the build-up.”

Bucs won the MTN8 in November and were also league runners-up as they enjoyed their best form in the second half of the campaign.

In the Nedbank, every game was hard-fought — from a 2-0 win against All Stars in the last-32, a 2-1 extra time win against Venda Football Academy, a penalties win against third-tier upstarts Dondol to a 2-1 extra-time win against Kaizer Chiefs in the semifinals.

Riveiro said for Pirates, “pretty much every game was the same — thriller after thriller”, and that helped harden his team for the final.

“We spoke just before the warm-up about how strong we were in the past two months, competing in every tournament.

“We were in every possible scenario — leading, leading and conceding, chasing a goal, playing extra time, penalties.

“We managed to resist in those moments, and today was just another example.

“We didn’t play well. But I don’t even know if it’s possible to play the way you wanted to in a final — it’s difficult in this environment and context; the excitement is too high.”