Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro insists there was no panic from the technical team despite the scare against minnows Dondol Stars in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinal match. It took a penalty shootout win at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday for the Buccaneers to seal a semifinal spot.
The match ended 1-1 after extra time but Pirates managed a 5-4 victory during the penalty kicks.
DONDOL STARS NEARLY CAUSED ANOTHER UPSET
The ABC Motsepe League side, who beat SuperSport United and AmaZulu in the last 32 and last 16 stages, came close to causing another upset against the Soweto giants.
But Riveiro maintains that there was never a point where he had doubts about his team progressing to the last four stage.
WHY ORLANDO PIRATES COACH JOSE RIVEIRO WAS CALM
“I was quite calm today on the bench. I was quite sure that we would make it before the penalties, but it’s a football game, and anything can happen,” he told the media.
“If we were playing basketball, we probably could have won with a 30 or 40 points advantage. But this is football, and it’s very complex. It’s easy and complex at the same time, but these things can happen.
But doubt? No. I didn’t change players in a hurry or look for something crazy; no. We trusted the players we had on the field because we were playing at a good level today,” he explained.
“[Penalties] are not what we planned. But at the same time, it was not a surprise. It’s a cup game, and these games are special, that’s why we love the cups everywhere around the world, and South Africa is not an exception.
“We faced a good team, there are a couple of PSL teams who can tell you about them, and we managed to do enough to avoid the penalties, to be honest, but we were very unlucky in the last touch,” he said.
Pirates have booked the semifinal spot alongside Stellenbosch, who beat Mamelodi Sundowns in the other quarterfinal match on Saturday.
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