Praise for Buccaneers from coach despite Champions League elimination

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro failed his players and their achievement in getting as far as the African Champions League semifinal, and said the future looked bright for the club despite Friday’s loss in Egypt.

Pirates came agonisingly close to a place in the African Champions League final, but twice let a lead slip to lose 3-2 to Pyramids in Cairo and miss out on a chance to play Mamelodi Sundowns in next month’s decider.

“Congratulations to our players for the fantastic performance that they gave to all of our fans during this season. It's been second to none, honestly,” said the coach after the loss where their Egyptian hosts grabbed a winner six minutes from time.

“We are out of the competition after losing our first match in the whole tournament, which is a tough one to swallow, to digest. We will need a little bit of time because I think it's a very cruel result.

“We played, I think, a really good game, a top performance away from home against an excellent team, but we couldn't manage to control two moments of the game where we got the lead two times and they managed to equalise almost immediately after our goals,” added Riveiro.

“That was probably the key that we couldn't make it to be leading the game for a little bit longer to create a little bit more of uncertainty to the opponent.

“In the end of the of the game, when the game was about to die, a well-executed set play takes them to the final, so it's a mix of a pride and sadness at the same time.

“I guess it's a normal thing, because we have failed and are out of the competition, but we do it in a good way or in a way that we all have to feel proud about our ourselves.”

'VERY PROUD'

Riveiro, who has already announced his intention to leave the club, said Pirates were on the right course with any exciting players emerging from their youth ranks.

“I'm very proud of the whole team, not only in this competition but over the long journey that we already covered together this year. I think the qualification in the Champions League for all of them was excellent.

“Like I said before we started the competition, before we started the group stage, I said that we're coming into the Champions League with the intention to grow as a group of football players and coaches. None among ourselves had experience in this competition before.

“We’ve played regularly with very young players. I think it is a fantastic for the future. We have important players already only 19, 20 years old, and although they have a lot of things to improve on, they are at a high level and it's a very good for the club as well, because the future is looking bright for Orlando Pirates.

“It’s a young squad, an ambitious one, and right now with one more year of experience in a competition like the Champions League, there's a lot of things to celebrate. Not now, obviously, now we are sad, we are not happy. But the future is looking nice for the club,” the Spanish-born coach added.