Outgoing Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro is satisfied with what his players have managed to achieve in the almost-ending season.
The Buccaneers reached the Caf Champions League semi-final, where they narrowly lost 3-2 in aggregate against Pyramids, who are set to play favourites Mamelodi Sundowns in a two-legged final.
Bucs have also reached the Nedbank Cup final, where they want to win it for the third time in a row, just like they did in the MTN8. At some point, it seemed the players were fatigued with back-to-back competitive matches. Instead of adding a few players in the January transfer window, they opted to send Gilberto on loan to his former club, Petro Atletico.
Monnapule Saleng has also been sidelined since early December owing to unspecified reasons. Riveiro hints that it could have negatively impacted his team, which had exceeded expectations at the start of the season.
‘These players can do something special'
“This group across the season has managed to show that their resilience shouldn’t be questioned. They are competing in every competition. We’ve won [MTN8] final, and we’re competing in another [Nedbank Cup] final. We’re trying to run a race with Mamelodi Sundowns until the final day, and we were 10 minutes away from playing in a Champions League final,” he told the media.
“They’re proving that they can do something special, or maybe we don’t, because there are factors that are out of our hands. However, the commitment and composure of the team are something they can keep, and they will continue to win in the future.”
Riveiro has won five Soweto Derbies, against Kaizer Chiefs, equalling Stuart Baxter's record. He might break it with a win on Saturday against Amakhosi, “I think three years ago, after my first derby here, the first question coming from my left was something like, ‘Congratulations, you are the first Spanish coach to lose one game at FNB,' and now we are sitting here with five victories. I’m happy with the performance of the players,” he concluded.
