'They should blame me not Sipho': Riveiro defends Pirates' final hero Chaine

09 October 2023 - 09:59 By Sazi Hadebe in Durban
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Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Sipho Chaine makes a save in MTN8 final against Mamelodi Sundowns at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday.
Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Sipho Chaine makes a save in MTN8 final against Mamelodi Sundowns at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday.
Image: Sandile Ndlovu

There's hardly been an Orlando Pirates match this season that has ended without the club's fans booing their own goalkeeper, Sipho Chaine, for the amount of time he takes when the team tries to play from the back.

Pirates coach Jose Riveiro said if there's anyone to account for that it's him.

“They should blame me not Sipho,” Riveiro said of Chaine who seemed to put the supporters' suspicions behind him and become a Bucs hero after saving three penalties when they beat Mamelodi Sundowns 3-1 to retain the MTN8 trophy at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.

“We all work on it and sometimes you need that power from the keeper. It's easy to understand. It's 11 against 11 and if Sipho is on the ball it's 11 against 10 because the opponent is not coming to press.

“So we have [an advantage] of one more player. From there it's about the opponent on how many players they're going to push forward to press.

“We try to dominate games as well as possible but not today's [Saturday's final] because of the reasons [windy conditions] I said.

“We were a bit straightforward and we tried to play to the wingbacks on the sides to find combinations from there. But like I said, if you want to play combinations you have to play usually with nine against six in your side or nine against seven and you need a keeper to play.

“Sometimes the keeper needs to take his time and when the ball is moving and someone is jumping to press people [laughs] supporters need to understand that in that moment it's not a good idea to stress the goalkeeper because he has to make a crucial decision.

“But it's not Sipho's [fault]. We try to play the way that give us the possibility to do it [play from the back], and that's what we try to do with all our keepers.

“They're different, like our defenders are different. Some of them are better with the ball but we try to always find a proper combination to make sure we can be ourselves.

“Like for Sundowns, the role of [Ronwen] Williams is crucial and they cannot do what they do without that role.”

Pirates have a break from action until their DStv Premiership fixture against Polokwane City at Orlando Stadium on October 27.


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