Riveiro demands consistency from Orlando Pirates
"If we manage to play at this level, we are not going to lose a lot of points this season," says Riveiro.
Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro (Picture: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix)
Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro says if his side remain consistent with their performance against Mamelodi Sundowns they will be a hard side to beat and they won’t lose many points in their remaining fixtures.
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Pirates suffered a 1-0 defeat against the DStv Premiership leaders on Saturday, but put on a great performance that Riveiro was very proud of at the Orlando Stadium.
Dropping three points was a big issue for the club since they are in a quest to finish the season in second or third place on the league standings, but, the Bucs mentor believes in what he is building at the club and that they will be a strong side.
“If we manage to play at this level, we are not going to lose a lot of points this season. We will continue the process in the future (and be) stronger than we were,” said the Bucs coach, seemingly optimistic about the future of the club.
Against Sundowns, Pirates had two penalty shouts, and Downs captain Themba Zwane made a terrible tackle on Bucs defender Nkosinathi Sibisi, which could have easily been a red card. But Riveiro feels sympathy for referee Masixole Bambiso.
“It was an emotional game. Pirates, Sundowns and somebody else, I guess, made mistakes. Like I said before, we are coaches. You want us to talk about every problem, but it’s your role (media) to do it. Not us, sorry. Being a referee is the last thing I would do,” he added.
“It’s not for me. It’s so, so difficult. That’s why you really need to be prepared. Today (Saturday) was an intense game and I guess it wasn’t easy for the match officials.”
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The loss against Sundowns didn’t make any difference to Bucs’ position on the league table, with the Soweto giants remaining in fourth place with 28 points after 19 matches.
With 11 fixtures left in the league, Riveiro knows that they will have to ensure that they don’t drop too many points to make it a point they end the campaign in a continental spot.
Pirates’ next game is in the Nedbank Cup where they will meet All Stars in the last-32 at the Bidvest Stadium on Saturday.
