Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has praised Deon Hotto’s sportsmanship gesture towards Stade d’Abidjan in the sides CAF Champions League Group C tie at Orlando Stadium over the weekend.
The midfielder was one of the scorers in Pirates 3-0 victory over the Ivorian, side as they climbed to the top of Group C with eight points.
Towards the end of the game when the Buccaneers were in a good scoring opportunity for a fourth goal, the Namibian kicked the ball out when an opposition player was injured instead of continuing play.
This gesture was appreciated by the visiting coach and Riveiro with the latter saying it speaks volumes about the kind of person and competitor Hotto is.
“I think the game belongs to the players and if Hotto in that particular moment decided that we have to stop the game then we stop it and that’s it,” said Riveiro when asked about the gesture.
“Maybe sometimes you feel the temptation because you are in the box, it’s an action that can have a different continuity but it’s something to appreciate.
“I’m not going to describe the type of human that Deon is. Anybody knows Deon Hotto very well in this country, one more proof that he is a fair player with he is mates and with the opponents as well.
“And it’s always in a competitive environment like ours that sometimes we use big words, big sentences, it seems like we are talking about war sometimes more than sports. It’s nice to see some situations like this because in the end they are football players, they understand each other and I think it was a human behaviour from Deon.”
