Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has reacted with mixed emotions to their “cruel” exit from the CAF Champions League after losing 3-2 to Pyramids.
The Buccaneers were leading twice thanks to goals by youngsters Relebohile Mofokeng and Mohau Nkota but were almost immediately pegged back both times.
In the end, a goal by Fiston Mayele six minutes from time sealed Pirates’ fate and ended their hopes of booking a place in the final for a first time since 2013.
After the match, Riveiro was visibly disappointed but also expressed his pride at the overall campaign of his squad.
“Congrats to Pyramids for going to the final,” he said in the post-match presser.
“Second, also congratulations to our players, to out group for the the fantastic performance that they gave us and to all of our fans.
“I think this season has been second to none, we are out of the competition today after losing our first match in the whole tournament.
“A tough one to swallow, to digest. We’ll need a little bit of time because I think it’s a very cruel result. I think we played a really good game, top performance away from home against an excellent team.
“But we couldn’t manage to control two moments of the game where we got the lead for two times and they managed to equalise almost immediately after our goals.
“That was probably the key that we couldn’t be leading the game a little bit longer, to create a little bit more uncertainty to the opponent, and in the end of the game when the game was about to die, one set-play, well-executed takes them to the final.
“It’s a mix of pride and sadness at the same time. We’re getting out of the competition but we do it in a good way, but in a way that we have to be proud of ourselves.”
Pirates switch their attention now back to domestic football, facing Sekhukhune United on 30 April before back-to-back Soweto Derbies against Kaizer Chiefs.
