Poker face Bucs coach Riveiro says stability and consistency will put a smile on his face

Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has hardly showed emotion on the bench, whether his team wins a match or loses, but after a 2-0 victory over Lamontville Golden Arrows in a DStv Premiership match on Tuesday, the Bucs coach insisted he was very happy, despite maintaining a poker face.

The Spaniard said not flashing a smile didn’t mean he has no feelings, but the main thing for him is to ensure the team is stable and consistent.

“I try to be always stable,” he said after striker Monnapule Saleng’s brace gave Pirates their fifth win in 12 league matches this season.

“I want my team to be stable in a difficult environment and we need to be consistent. We’re celebrating and I’m so happy. I’m happy as the coach tonight [Tuesday] and I can promise you that.

“But we try to keep our feet on the ground. We know what’s coming [MTN8 second leg semi-final tie against Mamelodi Sundowns in Polokwane on Saturday] in just four days. So we want more and this is an important victory for the team and I promise you I’m more than happy.”

After the team collected only two points from a possible nine in their past three league matches, Tuesday’s victory came at the right time.  

 “Well, obviously, the mood is going to be better [in Bucs’ camp] after our win,” said Riveiro.

“In our past two games we didn’t manage to get a good result; we drew two times in a row at home. Our loss in an away game [against Sekhukhune United] was in Polokwane and we finished that game with a really bad taste [10 men].

“We really needed to confirm we’re doing things well and with a good result. I think we were superior than our past two opponents [AmaZulu (1-1) and Richards Bay (0-0)], but we couldn’t capitalise on all the good things we did.

“This game [of football] is a scoring game and you cannot be happy with only a good performance. Sometimes you need to play bad but get a good result. This result will make us recover faster and forget the knocks, the heat, and everybody will be in a good mood starting tomorrow [Wednesday] to prepare for the next game.”

Pirates drew 0-0 with Sundowns in the first leg of the semi-final and a similar result will take them to the final in Durban on November 5.  

What pleased Riveiro about Bucs’ win against Arrows was seeing his strikers Kermit Erasmus and Saleng combine well to find the net — which Bucs failed to do in their past four matches (in all competitions, the goal against AmaZulu was an own goal).

“You can imagine how exceptionally they’re [Erasmus and Saleng] working,” said Riveiro.

“We have more than one player and a lot of players with talent up front. When you have that talent and you have good structures like we have, you have to provide them with a platform to show the talent they have.

“Everyone is making a great contribution and now it’s time for Saleng and Erasmus. Hopefully they can continue to perform this way and even better.”

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