Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has paid glowing tribute to his players following their 2-1 win over CR Belouizdad that saw them make it to the CAF Champions League quarter-final.
Pirates made it to the last eight following goals from Relebohile Mofokeng and a thunderbolt from Thalente Mbatha before the visitors pulled one back in added time.
It was enough to send Pirates top of their group and into the quarter-final, going past the group round for the first time in over five years, and Riveiro is in awe of his players for showing great character despite their inexperience at this level.
“We played against a very good team but we played with the intention to win the match from the first minute and that is how we managed to get the lead and we consolidated in the second half even without control,” Riveiro told SABC.
Riviero lauds his ‘young’ team
“We later controlled wing play from wingers, full-backs and overlapping on the sides but still they managed to get a couple of set-pieces and scored the goal. A little bit of uncertainty in the end because a goal can come from nowhere but overall, congratulations to the players.
“Like I said when we started this competition, we are a young team, inexperienced, starting from the coach, and I think these guys are doing a fantastic job. Thank you to the fans because we really need them in every game, especially these ones. I am so happy.”
The Spanish tactician is also happy that his squad now possesses players with the ability to score from distance as witnessed with the second goal when Mbatha left the goalkeeper with no chance with a ferocious shot from outside the box.
Can Pirates floor Al Ahly in Cairo?
“Getting comfortable in such scenarios is staying in the game and being comfortable because we need to counter that low defence, to invite them to come outside when they know we have a threat from distance,” he added.
“It is an element that we have right now in the squad with Kabelo [Dlamini], Thalente as well and today was a beautiful one.”
Pirates now top Group C with 11 points, one ahead of Al Ahly, who they face away in their final match on January 18 and Riveiro will not change his approach for the big clash in Cairo.
“We want to play again with our style and philosophy. We will go to Cairo to try to be ourselves and why not perform at this level there? We know the difficulty of the task one more time, but we are ready to go,” he said.
