Riveiro praises Pirates collective ahead of another cup final

Despite going to his third final since joining Orlando Pirates, Jose Riveiro is certainly under pressure to deliver positive results when the club takes on Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 final at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.

Riveiro’s Pirates ship seems to be sinking following unfavourable results in their last four games, which included them being knocked out of the Caf Champions League.

The MTN8 will give the Pirates coach an opportunity to once again revive the trust of the team’s supporters, having clinched the Wafa Wafa tournament and the Nedbank Cup last year.

Riveiro believes reaching their third final is something that has to be respected, but says it’s a collective effort

“We find ourselves again in the final, for the third time in a row. I think it’s something that you first of all, respect from so many angles,” said Riveiro during a press conference held at Rand Stadium on Tuesday.

Many faces

“Like I have explained so many times, it’s a collective, it’s a team (effort). We have to come here and represent everybody. Behind our success, there are many faces, there are many names. There are lots of players, there are lot of people around me,”

“I’m not pretending to be modest, It’s the way I see it in this profession. And we all have a big different influence on what’s happening in the team. Obviously I have the last word in everything that we do and the main responsibility, that’s why I’m here. But we just want to continue the same way, we want to find ourselves on the last day in every competition. Unfortunately this season it’s not going to be possible in every competition, but in this one (the MTN8) it is.

The Bucs mentor vowed that they will give their all to beat Sundowns in the final and he knows that their supporters are eager to see them lift the title.

“I’m very happy and I know our fans are looking to see us lifting this cup one more time. We are going to do our best, we are going to give our all on the field … in order to make it possible. Because we don’t want to be only in the final, we want to be the better team obviously and a better team will get the good result.”