Jose Riveiro is a player's coach and respects local culture Kermit Erasmus

Erasmus was speaking to the media at Rand Stadium on Thursday morning ahead of the Nedbank Cup semi-final Soweto Derby against arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs.

The two teams meet at FNB Stadium on Saturday and Erasmus says Riveiro has a very patient nature when it comes to the players.

"He's a great human being, a good coach. From the start of the season having to understand how he wants us to play and having our own identity has been great. He's very patient with us as players because not all of us understand the tactical side of things, so he helped us improve on that," he said.

On many occasions, European coaches have been accused of coming to Africa and imposing themselves on local players, but Erasmus reveals Riveiro’s strength lies in his efforts to understand the culture of the local game as well as individual players.

"He's making the effort to understand the culture of South African football and the players as well. Understanding the different dynamics of different races of players, not only the football side but understanding the human being," he added.

As he looks ahead to Saturday’s Soweto Derby, the 32-year-old says, despite having both league games to Kaizer Chiefs this season, the Bucs were the better team.

With a bit of focus, he believes they should progress to the final come Saturday.

"Not to have any lapse of concentration, that's it. I think in both games we were the better team and we created better chances. I think if we didn't have a lapse of concentration like we won't have on the weekend, it will be a different outcome."

SABC Sport has learnt there are less than 10 000 tickets left for the Soweto Derby, with around 67 999 grandstand and 5 603 suite tickets sold, while 29 523 complimentary tickets have been distributed – all adding up to 76 555 as of 13h00 this afternoon.

A total of 87 000 tickets have been allocated for this game.