Orlando Pirates take on Sundowns in Nedbank Cup final

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Saturday’s Nedbank Cup final in Nelspruit will feature arguably two of the best and most exciting football teams in South Africa – Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates. The fixture even has neutrals licking their lips.

The coaches of both teams, Rhulani Mokwena and Jose Riveiro, agree the encounter, just like previous ones, will be very competitive – played at a high tempo and will be entertaining for the fans.

Mokwena has refused to compare the fixture to the Soweto derby between Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. But he says the fixture has grown in stature in recent seasons to become one of the main attractions on the local football calendar.

Sundowns have dominated the domestic football scene for the last number of seasons. But Pirates and Stellenbosch FC, to a large extent, are the two teams in the DSTV Premiership who have managed to close the gap and make local football competitive again.

Chiefs and Pirates were the major contributors of players to the senior national squad in the past. However, Downs have taken over that role with Pirates as the second biggest contributor. And it’s for this reason that the coaches of both teams – Jose Riveiro and Rhulani Mokoena – expect an entertaining and exciting match on Saturday.

Riveiro  says, “It’s going to be a game that demands the best version of both teams, in my opinion, I remember post-match interviews from February the players highlighted the tempo that the game was played at and I don’t expect anything less on Saturday.”

Mokoena says, “When you have eleven good players on one side you are bound to have a good match I am 100% sure that we will have two good teams and we will be ready.”

Former players and legends of the two teams, Teko Modise and Stanton Fredericks, also expect an entertaining match…

“These two teams whenever they play each other results are going to go I don’t know which way the results are gonna go. It is a fixture that Pirates want to finish on a high. They will go into this game knowing they have to beat sundowns.”

“The fact that they lost the last game of the DSTV premiership they’re going to want to make it right They are going to want that trophy so much. This Nedbank Cup final is going to be one of the best ever,” says Fredericks.

The last time the two teams met was in February in a DSTV Premiership match at Loftus Versfeld. It was an entertaining encounter that ended in a 1-all stalemate.