Riveiro looking for more success ahead of Nedbank Cup final

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Orlando Pirates coach José Riveiro is looking for more success this season as they prepare to face Sekhukhune United in the final of the Nedbank Cup this coming weekend.

The Buccaneers have already lifted one trophy this campaign in the form of the MTN8 trophy while also qualifying for next year’s Caf Champions League after finishing in second place in the DStv Premiership.

Pirates will now have another shot at clinching silverware when they take Sekhukhune United in the final of the Nedbank Cup at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday evening.

Riveiro has since praised his teams efforts and for what they have achieved this season as they look to secure their second piece of silverware this season.

“As a coaching team we’ve been giving 100% to the process because we have been welcomed so warmly here and we are trying to pay that back with the professional work we do with passion,” Riveiro said.

“There is never just one reason behind a good season, especially in a complex football environment.

“I think the quick adaptation from first the coaching staff and then the players has played a key role this season. The players have been very quick to understand what we are looking for. That synergy between the coaching staff and the players is the key. The football comes later.

“But our capacity to start working well together very early in the season and the possibility of an early success such as winning the MTN8 helped a lot in terms of the overall continuity of our project here. It’s about the capacity to have an eye in the future but also now in the present.”

He added: “These are all very good players, and our obsession as coaches is to get them to play together effectively. That is what we put our time into. It’s not about playing the way I want to play. It’s about playing the best football we believe we can play with this particular group of players and finding ways to win games with this group.

“From there it’s easy to explain the game because it’s always in our minds, we’re always working on it and learning from other teams and other coaches. We are obsessed with trying to simplify the game as much as possible for the players. We understand that this is a very complex game, but we try to convey it in a way that the players can understand what we want and also have joy producing it, which is what we want in the end.”

Photo by Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix