Former Orlando Pirates marksman Andries Sebola has warned the Soweto giants and their coach Jose Riveiro of a danger posed by Stellenbosch FC ahead of the highly-anticipated MTN8 final.
Pirates host Stellies at a sold-out Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday at 18:00.
The Sea Robbers are chasing a nice piece of history of becoming the first side to win the MTN8 three times in a row.
On the other side, the young Stellies are looking to win their first MTN8 trophy and their second title in the Premier Soccer League after winning the Carling Knockout last season.
Given their superior pedigree in Cup competition, especially under coach Riveiro, the Buccaneers will head to Saturday’s meeting as favourites.
But Sebola warned that Stellies are not a side to be underestimated as coach Steve Barker has been building a solid team on that side over the years.
“It’s going to be an interesting final, more especially both teams I think their match fitness is okay, and they have been competing in Africa and domestically,” Sebola told Hollywoodbets Sports.
“Both teams have managed good results, but Stellies have been unfortunate to lose one game in the league and dropped three points in their first game. But so far, so good for both teams.
“With the experience of Steve Barker and the Cup King status of Jose Riveiro, you cannot just predict who will win the game this time, but the best team on the day will prevail.
“More especially if Pirates don’t underestimate Stellenbosch and be consistent, I think they will win the Cup,” he said.
The former striker said if Pirates fail to deal with the speed of the unpredictable Stellenbosch attackers, they shouldn’t bother to make space for the trophy in their flight back to Johannesburg.
“Stellies can rise to the occasion. They are unpredictable, more especially Steve Barker and his philosophy,” Sebola said.
“He is not afraid to allow youngsters to play and that’s why I say they are unpredictable.
“Pirates need to watch for the speed. There are (Stellies) players who are playing in the middle of the field and up front that are very quick off the mark.
“That’s where they can hurt Pirates the most because the players who have speed at Pirates are (Thabiso) Monyane, who is going to return to the right-back and also (Deon) Hotto has speed,” explained the former player who is now a football pundit for SABC’s Thobela FM.
“But in the central of defence, it is only (Thabiso) Sesena and if (Olisa) Ndah comes back because they were resting him for the final because of a slight knock, the speed of the Stellies strikers is going to hurt Pirates.
“Pirates must be on their toes, especially players like (Lehlogonolo) Mojela can tear you into pieces with his speed, strength and aggression.”
Sebola believes his former club will not have too many chances against the stubborn defence of the Maroons, meaning the Bucs will have to capitalise on every chance they get.
“For Pirates to hurt Stellies, it’s a matter of being able to break that defence which is very solid with Traore. It’s going to be hard for Pirates to break that defence, I tell you,” Sebola said.
“They’ve also got (Fawaaz) Basadien on the left, it will be difficult for Pirates, especially if they don’t capitalise on the chances they are creating.
“I’m a little bit worried with the midfielders of Pirates when it comes to creating chances for the strikers.
“You can see that Mabasa has been struggling in the past few games because there’s no supply to get the chance to score goals.”
Orlando Pirates captain Innocent Maela and head coach Jose Riveiro ahead of the final against Stellenbosch on Saturday.#MTN8 | @iDiskiTimes pic.twitter.com/xo3vOrHsIW
— Lorenz Köhler (@Lorenz_KO) October 1, 2024
