Riveiro reveals secrets of Pirates’ cup successes

Happiness breeds confidence, was part Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro’s assessment of his team’s excellent cup final record in his two seasons in charge.

Pirates’ eye-catching 3-1 Nedbank Cup semifinal win against Chippa United, to see off a fighting home opponent in an exciting clash at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday, meant the Buccaneers will have appeared in four out of five domestic cup finals during Riveiro’s tenure.

Considering this was a team that went six seasons without silverware until Riveiro’s predecessor, Josef Zinnbauer, won the 2020 MTN8, it’s a fairly formidable return. And Pirates’ record in those four previous finals under the Spaniard has been as impressive — played four, won four.

It’s worth a recap. First he steered Bucs to a 1-0 win in the MTN8 final against AmaZulu in November 2022 then in May 2023 Pirates beat Sekhukhune United in the Nedbank Cup final.

This season Pirates defended the MTN8, seeing off Mamelodi Sundowns on penalties in the final in October. Pirates suffered a rare earlier cup exit losing on penalties to Richards Bay FC in the Carling Knockout quarterfinals in December. Now they are in another final in the Nedbank.

It’s not all been rosy for Riveiro at Pirates. In their return to continental competition in this season’s Caf Champions League they suffered an ignominious second preliminary round exit at the hands of Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy.

And consistency in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) has been hard to come by. A late-season burst saw Pirates end second to Sundowns but by 16 points last season.

After a strong preseason, most tipped Pirates to run Downs closer in the league in 2023-24, but they could not get enough positive results in the opening half of the campaign, and again it’s down to a late charge for third-placed Bucs to try to dislodge second-placed Stellenbosch FC and return to the Champions League.

Riveiro, though, feels the more convincing manner in which Bucs have reached cup finals this season and improved form in 2024 points to the “process” he continually refers to finally reaping rewards. He suggests next season could genuinely be different in the league.

Riveiro arrived in the PSL having not won a trophy. However in his previous job, his first as a head coach in a three-year spell at Finnish club FC Inter Turku, he gained popularity for attractive football and steering the unfashionable side, who boast one Veikkausliiga title in their 32-year history, to second, second and third place from 2019 to 2021.

The 46-year-old was asked after the win against Chippa how Bucs’ four cup finals reflect the core principles he has been attempting to instil in a talented squad at a club where steadiness has not been an easy quality to come by.

“It’s something quite unique to be in four finals in two seasons. It tells you a lot about the process that is being implemented at our club and in our team,” Riveiro said.

“I said to the players just after the [Chippa] match that the players who managed to take us to the finals last season, many of them are not on the field now, or not in the team even. But they showed us the way to compete and how to win these types of games.

“They are still contributing and this is a team achievement — the level of ambition of the team in these types of tournaments, the level of commitment, the way to compete no matter the scenario. We are not just winning in these tournaments, we are playing memorable games.

“We are going to play one more, which is going to be in our memories forever, once more. But at the same time the team right now is different from the one last season. Last season to win the Nedbank was [about] working very hard in every game, maybe not playing the type of football the guys are playing right now,” he said.

“Again, it’s part of the process — now we are playing a lot more confidently and also competing the way we were last season at the same time.

“The reasons are the talent of the players, the commitment to the way we want to play and the happiness. Happiness means confidence, camaraderie, brotherhood — all the things you have to put around these talented players to make them perform the way they have been, I would say, this whole year.”