Pirates and Sundowns in tricky Nedbank Cup last-16 clashes against Lions and Maritzburg

Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns face potential banana skins against unfancied National First Division (NFD) sides this weekend in their Nedbank Cup last-16 assignments.

First on the menu is the Buccaneers against Hungry Lions at Orlando Stadium on Saturday afternoon and the Brazilians will be looking to book their place in the quarterfinals when they take on Maritzburg United at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Sunday. 

So far, Stellenbosch, University of Pretoria (Tuks) and AmaZulu have already qualified for the next stage with victories over Milford FC, Moroka Swallows and last year’s losing finalists Sekhukhune United. 

Looking ahead of their clash against Lions, who are sitting in the top half of the NFD standings, Pirates coach Jose Riveiro said their preparations have been boosted by having footage of their opponents. 

“It is easy to get information about the opponents and in that sense the game is balanced,” said the soft-spoken Riveiro. 

“We know each other well and they are a difficult South African team from the second tier with skilful players upfront. They have a combination of experience and talented players, they are well organised with a clear shape and orientation. 

“They have a good structure when defending and they have capacity to create problems in transition because of their speed and quality. On the day we know how this game is going to be with every player running the extra mile and willing to prove that they can deal with a team like us.” 

Riveiro will once again rely on key attacking players like Relebohile Mofokeng, Patrick Maswanganyi, Tshegofatsho Mabasa and Monnapule Saleng who is expected to keep his place in the team after his Soweto derby heroics. 

“We know it is going to be difficult because it’s a cup game. Cup games are different where anyone with the right frame of mind will be competitive. We need to prepare ourselves for any possible scenario. Like I said it is not about the name of the team but who wants to be in the next round. We need to show that we want to be in the next round during the 90 or 120 minutes.” 

Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena shared similar sentiments, saying that playing against a team from the lower division is not easy. 

“These games are very tough, the difficulty is that everybody expects you to win and the pressure is on you. You have to perform on the day and it is not easy but we have to prepare mentally, we have to be in the right space and the players have to get into the expectation of the right performance level,” said Mokwena.

For Sundowns to progress to the next stage, Mokwena will rely on key players like Teboho Mokoena, Aubrey Modiba, Marcelo Allende, Thembinkosi Lorch and Peter Shalulile. 

“If we can perform up to that level, I am sure that we will be fine. They are a good team, they have a good coach and they some good players who have PSL experience.

“They are a club that knows the inner workings of the league. They have history of doing well in cup competitions. We have to be sure that we are ready mentally more than anything else.”