Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has discussed the difficulties of facing a lower league side in the Nedbank Cup after he conceded that they were almost eliminated by Dondol Stars.
Pirates were taken to extra-time for the second consecutive game in the Nedbank Cup after ABC Motsepe League side Dondol stretched them all the way to penalty shootouts following a 1-1 draw.
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Sandile Mthethwa netted the decisive spot-kick for Pirates, who eventually won 5-4 on penalties to book a spot in the semi-finals.
Riveiro says it's difficult to play against lower league sides because every aspect of the game changes when coming up against them.
"Ja, it was not a secret, they eliminated AmaZulu, they eliminated a team like SuperSport, now you can speculate about those games but it's a fact that for us top division teams it's difficult to face these games," Riveiro told journalists after the game.
"Because there's multiple reasons, psychological, technical and tactical because it's a different way to play football. It's a headache to be honest and there's the proof, they were close again to eliminate Pirates, so that's something that brings the dimension of the task and it's obvious that it was not a piece of cake at all," he said.
The Spanish mentor looked forward to the semi-finals and said that it's good for the interest of supporters that Pirates is still in the competition.
"What is important is that we're in the semi-finals, I think the fact that Pirates is in the semi-finals will keep interest in the competition," he went on.
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"I think it's going to be good for all of us to have good two semi-finals with good teams, with a lot of fans in the stadiums, let's see whom is the best one to go until the end,"
Pirates have since been drawn against arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs in the semi-finals.
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