Jose Riveiro says the scorching heat won’t be a factor for Al Ahly

For the past two weeks since the kick-off time was confirmed for this game as 15:00, Egyptians have not stopped asking questions why the game would be played in a scorching heat.

According to the weather forecast, at kick-off time tomorrow, it will be 35 degrees Celsius, but Pirates Riveiro does not see this as an advantage.

"I think they are used to the heat in Cairo if I'm not wrong so I think it's gonna be tough for both teams to play 3'oclock. It's gonna be 34/35 tomorrow here in Orlando at that time, so at some point, both teams will get affected,” Riveiro said.

“We are gonna play the game with the same conditions, Ahly and ourselves so it will never be an excuse for anyone no matter what happens there. Football is played outdoors in different conditions, raining, not raining, with different balls, with wind, without wind so when you want to win games consistently you must adapt to the situation. Pirates will do it and Ahly is used to playing in every possible scenario, they not gonna be cut by the fact that it's a hot day."

Bucs will play tomorrow’s game in front of a sold-out crowd eSgodini, with more than 33 000 people having bought tickets for this game. They need the 12th man and Riveiro says these are the games where the players have to show their level.

"They must, they're playing for Orlando Pirates, we were working and fighting so hard to have the opportunity to play these types of games and it's an opportunity for all of us to show what they are made of,” the coach added.

“The ambition, the football that they have and tomorrow is an opportunity and we have to take it. Results are not under control in football, you can be a better team and lose the game.

‘We have to make sure that we can develop a good performance, that they can be themselves, that's the only way that we can beat the opponents when we are ourselves. You are not gonna find a different Pirates tomorrow [Saturday] on the field and we are gonna be the Pirates that people want to see and the Pirates that we want to see as a group as well as usual.

“The result is not under control a lot of things can happen. We can even be the worst team on the day and win the match, it is football. The performance, our attitude and our intention are in our hands and we're not gonna fail."