Riveiro: We Are A Team Of Resilience
Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has reacted to their victory against the log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns at FNB Stadium on Sunday, saying they managed the game well to maintain their second spot in the Betway Premiership table.
The Buccaneers beat the Brazilian team 2-1 to bring back their hope of winning the league. The two goals for the home side came in during the first five minutes of the game through the Bafana Bafana winger Relebohile Mofokeng.
Sundowns tried to come back in the second half, unfortunately, they didn’t go through even though they managed to score at least one goal. Sundowns’ goal was scored by another Bafana player Khuliso Mudau.
“It was a game that we expected somehow; we tried to convince ourselves to be stronger in the beginning and we did. I’m not going to say we planned to score two goals in the first minutes, it’s too much and it’s a consequence of many things,” Riveiro said in a post-match press conference.
“But we were accurate in the beginning, we got a lead in the early stage of the game and that’s given you a good advantage, confidence as well. It was good for us to try to minimize their strengths to force them to do what we wanted them to do, knowing that we can still do it in a good way as a team.
“We were very organized, and full of talent quality. I think the advantages in the first-half; we had at least two really good transitions as well. It’s extraordinary the work that everybody was doing on the field in the first and second periods. We knew it was going to be tough, it’s going to demand and exactly we were a serious team.
“We are a team with the capacity to be resilient, to suffer, and we did our job, which we showed in the second period of the game, although they managed to score two goals. We managed the game very well in the second half and that’s why we got the results we were looking for.”
This was Pirates’ first victory in the league against Sundowns since they beat the Tshwane Giants in the 2019/20 season through Gabadinho Mhango at Orlando Stadium.
The Buccaneers are now 15 points behind Sundowns, and they still have four games in hand. Sundowns still have 58 points while Riveiro’s side have 43 points.
