Riveiro not surprised Pirates are on the verge of a second trophy

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro is not surprised he's on the verge of winning two trophies in his first season with the Buccaneers.

The Spaniard joined Pirates at the start of the 2022-2023 campaign after spending eight years coaching in Finland. In his first three months, Riveiro won the MTN8 and will win a second cup if Pirates beat Sekhukhune United in the Nedbank Cup final at Loftus in Pretoria on Saturday.

“Where we are is the reason we have an opportunity to fight for titles,” the coach said at a pre-final press conference at the sponsors' headquarters in Sandton, Johannesburg, on Thursday.

“We have a fantastic structure, a big squad full of talent that allows you to dream about it, but we still have to find a way to do it.

“There's many different ways to win in this sport and we're trying to find our own. We're in the right place to do this. It's not a surprise we can be one of the teams that's fighting for titles. 

“When you start and you're riding or driving a club like this it's obvious you'd think about being in final games. Winning titles [entails a lot of happenings] during the season. Dynamics, injuries, pieces of luck, but you also need to win games.

“We're in the right place and it's not a surprise to see our name in the last game of every tournament.

“I'm so happy to be part of the group that is making it possible to have a reason to be trusted by our fans. It's been a long journey since we started, but I'm very proud to be the only team to have played every possible [domestic] game this season.”

Riveiro insisted Pirates won't take Sekhukhune lightly despite going to the final as favourites, having finished the season in great form, unbeaten in 12 matches in all competitions.

That run helped Pirates finish second behind champions Mamelodi Sundowns in the DStv Premiership, earning them a ticket to play in the Caf Champions League next season. 

“That we're favourites doesn't mean it's going to be an easy game because we're Orlando Pirates. We have to be mentally prepared for a difficult game because first of all it's a final and second it's a very difficult team.

“They [Sekhukhune] showed it a few times this season, especially when the they played against the favourites. We know what's coming and we know the amount of kilometres and runs we have to do in this game if we want to be a winning team at the end of 90 or 120 minutes.”

While happy to be in a second final, Riveiro admitted that finishing 16 points behind Sundowns in the league means Pirates still have a lot to improve on for next season.

“Can you imagine how competitive we are? We can finish the season with two trophies and in second spot, but still we're not satisfied.

“It's the truth. I don't want to sound arrogant because I'm not. What we want in every competition is to fight until the end, and we didn't in the league. It's a fact. 

“That's something we're trying to correct and understand what happened.

“At the same time, we have to be proud of what we did, especially in 2023, in the last 12 games. We managed to be consistent to be one of the best teams.

“We were not just the best team in terms of results, but also performance. So we look to the future with more optimism and in a strong way.”

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.