Orlando Pirates captain Innocent Maela has expressed what the squad realised the day Jose Riveiro arrived at the club on his first day.
Ahead of his fifth domestic cup final since his appointment, with four trophies to his name, Riveiro could lead Pirates to become the first-ever club to do a three-peat of the MTN8.
His plaudits are arriving, despite not being able to contest for the league title as yet, there’s new optimism after a perfect start to the league, three wins from three, and qualification to the group stages of the Champions League for the first time since 2018.
“How did we know we had a good coach? I mean from the first day, I’ve sat here so many times to give credit to the coach and technical team on how we prepare for matches and how everyone is involved within the group,” Maela said.
“He [Riveiro] gives everyone the platform to express themselves, we have seen examples in the previous season and season before. So, I think from the first day we knew we had a top coach, we knew we had a good coach, a good human being, a father figure to us.
“From the first day we only wanted to play our best, give our best to him and also his former assistant coach who started the process with us [Sergio Almenara] and Michel [Bellver]. So it’s been a good journey so far with ups and downs, but we enjoy working with the coach and technical team.
“We have always known from the first day we’ve got a good coach, you can see how prepared he is, with training sessions every day and how much he demands the best from us.”
Pirates take on Stellenbosch at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday afternoon (18h00).
