Jose Riveiro concedes the mission has not been accomplished
By Neo Poho
Despite winning 2-1 in the second semi-final of the MTN8 against Stellenbosch FC, Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro still believes the mission has not as yet been accomplished.
Pirates are the holders of the MTN8 and made a good start in their bid to reach this year’s final with the 2-1 victory at the Athlone Stadium, taking a lead to the Orlando Stadium for 24 September’s return leg.
“We are happy, we celebrate the victory because it's very important for us but also understanding that this is just the first leg and we have to do a good job in 21 days.
We play to win every game so I don't think that our approach will be casual for the second leg because we want to be a winning team, we want to enjoy playing football and the only way we know how to do it is attacking, looking for the goal and and it's not going to be the problem when we play home in the second leg," Riveiro said.
While Stellenbosch FC's head Steve Barker took the defeat as a bitter pill to swallow, Riveiro thinks Stellenbosch were the better team on the day especially in terms of holding down possession.
"Stellenbosch were better in the early stages of the first half, better in terms of possession and making our buildup very uncomfortable, we prepared for the game in a different way and they were much more aggressive than what we expected.
We gradually managed to get control of the game and we were close to finding our first goal when they got the red card, in the second half, we tried to do everything to be consistent and get more possibilities with the talent that we have in our forwards to get the goal and I was extremely happy with the attitude," Riveiro added.
The winner in the second leg will face either Mamelodi Sundowns or Kaizer Chiefs in the final of the tournament.
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