Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro says their inability to hold onto their leads for a little longer was the reason they threw away a big advantage to miss out on the CAF Champions League final.
Pirates took a giant step towards a first Champions League final since 2013, when they went 2-1 up away to Egyptian side Pyramids on Friday, but allowed their hosts to win the match.
Relebohile Mofokeng scored a stunning 41st minute half-volley but Congolese forward Fiston Mayele levelled for Pyramids on the stroke of halftime, while Mohau Nkota fired home shortly after the break for 2-1.
Tough result to swallow for Riveiro
It left Pyramids needing to score twice to seal a place in the final, which they did through veteran forward Ramadan Sobhi in the 57th minute before Mayele completed the comeback six minutes from time, a result that Riveiro has described as cruel.
“Congratulations to our players for the fantastic performance they gave us and our fans during this season. It has been second to none,” Riveiro said on SABC after the match.
“We are out of the competition today after losing our first match in the whole tournament. A tough one to swallow and digest. We will need a little bit of time because it is a very cruel result.”
Riveiro then went into details over how his team fell apart, to miss out on a final that looked certain.
How did the Buccaneers throw it away?
“We played a really good game, top performance away from home against an excellent team but we could not manage to control two moments of the game where we got the lead for two times and they managed to equalise immediately after our goals,” he added.
“That was the key that we could not be leading for a little bit longer to create more uncertainty to the opponent and in the end, when the game was about to die, one set-piece well executed takes them to the final. It is a mix of pride and sadness but we got out of the competition in a way we have to be proud of.”
Riveiro now has the difficult job of picking up his crestfallen players for their remaining league matches as well as the Nedbank Cup final against Kaizer Chiefs on May 10.
