Orlando heat not an advantage – Riveiro

The expected 34-degree Celsius temperature at Orlando Stadium on Saturday will in no way serve as an advantage to Orlando Pirates in their clash against Al Ahly in the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League, says head coach Jose Riveiro.

Much has been made of the scorching conditions expected in Soweto for the highly anticipated Group C match.

However, Riveiro says the conditions on the day will in no way serve as an advantage to his side, highlighting the Egyptians’ familiarity with similar conditions in Cairo.

“Well, I think they are used to do the heat in Cairo, if I'm not wrong. So I think it's going to be tough for both teams to play at 3pm. It's going to be 34 or 35 [Degrees Celcius] tomorrow here in Orlando at that time. So, at some point, both teams will get affected. We're going to play the game with the same conditions Ahly and ourselves,” said the Spanish coach. 

“It will never be an excuse for anyone, no matter what happens. Football is played outdoors, in different conditions, raining, not raining, with different balls, with wind without winds. When you want to win games consistently, you must get adapted to the situation.”

“Orlando will do and Ahly is used to playing every possible scenario. They're not going to be hurt by the fact that tomorrow is going to be it's going to be a hot day.”

Both teams kicked off their campaign with convincing wins over CR Belouizdad and Stade d’Abidjan respectively.