Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has explained what makes Venda Football Academy different to All Stars ahead of their last 16 tie in the Nedbank Cup and what's key to them progressing.
Pirates booked their spot in the round of 16 after beating Motsepe Foundation Championship side All Stars 2-0 and will face another side from the same division, VFA.
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Riveiro says the Limpopo side presents a different challenge to All Stars, as unlike Stars who are a possession-based side, Venda play more directly and have the physicality in their game.
"If we speak about All Stars and Venda, so far, it looks to me totally different teams, they're quite different," Riveiro said in a press conference.
"All Stars is an organised team around the ball, giving importance to the possession and trying to get the percentage there with many technical players building from the back.
"And Venda is different, it's a bit more physical, they try to arrive in the half of the opponent as soon as possible, accumulate players, play with more second actions," he said.
"They put a lot of holes also in transition, so they're gonna propose, probably, I don't know but it's difficult especially against teams (from the lower leagues).
"Against All Stars we had the chance to press higher, to steal balls, we have actions and chances on transitions from their own half."
The Spanish tactician continued and predicted that they could manage the game better if they get an early lead but if not it's going to be a "rough" game for them.
"Against this team it's going to be different, probably they're gonna force us to build more from the back and our transitions will come from long distances, so it's gonna be complex," he went on.
"It's not gonna be an easy game. If we manage to get the lead soon and dominate soon probably yes but if we don't it's gonna be rough. But we're optimistic obviously, there's no other scenario for us than going through to the next round," he added.
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