Jose Riveiro cut a frustrated figure after Orlando Pirates beat SuperSport United on penalties on Saturday in their Nedbank Cup quarter-final encounter.
Image: Backpagepix
JOSE Riveiro looked like he’d rather not be there, but post-match interviews are compulsory, and the Orlando Pirates coach had to oblige the media corps awaiting him deep in the bowels of the old Peter Mokaba Stadium.
The Spaniard had just watched his team reach yet another Nedbank Cup semi-final, courtesy of a 5-4 victory over SuperSport United via a penalty shoot-out following a 2-2 stalemate that remained unchanged even after an extra half-hour of play.
It was definitely not how Riveiro would have wanted it to be, with Pirates gifting SuperSport the equaliser in injury time when they should have wrapped up the match in regulation time.
Despite the win, his frustration was evident, particularly given his open dislike of this Polokwane venue, whose pitch he finds inconducive to flowing football. He took his time walking towards the gathered newshounds, and that was only after some coercing by a PSL official. Riveiro was clearly not in the mood for conversation.
Did you expect it would go this far, that they would drag it to penalties? he was asked.
“It’s one of the possibilities in a knockout game. There are only two possible results in this type of game, so if you cannot make it in the 120 minutes, you have to go to the penalties and do your best. We did well in that space, and again, happy to be in the semifinals.”
Snappy, but fair enough.
The Limpopo media, obviously not very familiar with the man, committed that ‘treasonous’ act of asking the Bucs coach about individual players.
His response to the initial question on goalkeeper Sipho Chaine’s performance in the shoot-out was acceptable, though his tone revealed his irritation.
Orldnaod Pirates goalkeeper Sipho Chaine of Orlando Pirates.
Image: Backpagepix
“It’s his role in the penalty shoot-out. He has to stay in the post and try to catch at least one more than the opponents. And he has been doing well in that particular scenario in recent occasions when we had to go to penalties. He did an excellent job together with the analysts, the goalkeeper coach, and everybody in that space helping him to make the right decisions.”
Young Mbekezile Mbokazi’s Player of the Match performance, in which he scored his maiden professional goal, was the obvious talking point, and Riveiro was duly asked for his views.
He lost it ...
“It’s the second question, second about an individual. I don’t like speaking about players one by one … just to let you know. But go ahead … I mean, I am not ging to do the press conference speaking about Saleng, Mbokazi, the keeper … I never do it, it’s not because I am here.”
He never does, but the media he was addressing hardly ever gets to interview him and were not really aware of that, hence their questions. Besides, they wouldn’t have been good journalists had they not asked about a youngster who had as stellar a game as Mbokazi did — receiving rapturous applause from The Ghost when he was taken off late in the match.
Riveiro was evidently frustrated by what had just transpired — his team giving him heart palpitations by throwing victory away at the death and then putting him through the nightmare of a penalty shoot-out.
Such is football, though, and the sooner the Spaniard comes to terms with the fact that he has to address the media in both victory and defeat — as well as the reality that he cannot dictate which questions get asked — the better for his health.
Pirates next travel to face Stellenbosch FC in a Betway Premiership clash on Tuesday.
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