Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveirio has opened up on their qualification for the CAF Champions League ahead of Stellenbosch FC.
Pirates secured second in the league for the second consecutive season, in a campaign where it looked like a lost cause for several months.
But Stellies ending their season with defeats to Moroka Swallows, Mamelodi Sundowns and Richards Bay and Pirates securing one point against SuperSport United on the final day, meant their defeats to Richards Bay and TS Galaxy didn’t affect them.
Tshegofatso Mabasa scored the winner at Orlando Stadium on Saturday which secured him the league golden boot with 16 goals in a day of delight for the Buccaneers ahead of the Nedbank Cup final against Sundowns on 1 June in Mbombela Stadium.
“It was a very tough game to end the season, an opponent that decided to give us more initiative and wait for us in a medium block, difficult to deal with, not much space behind the last line,” Riveiro said about the game.
“We got an important goal before half-time but in the second half we speculated a bit with the result, I think the participation of Bradley [Grobler] in the second 45 also made a big difference, he’s difficult to deal with aerially. He dropped balls to Campbell and they started dominating territorially a little bit more and equalised.
“It was uncertain in the end if the 1-1 could be enough, you don’t want to not even on purpose, you start to be more conservative and it wasn’t entertaining in the last 15 minutes but the result was good enough today to achieve the objective we were looking for.
“Congratulations to everyone involved in this achievement and also I don’t say congratulations but very well done to Stellenbosch because I think they had a remarkable season, today it’s us in that spot but everyone can see that margins were very small.
“So fantasatic result. Fantastic that Pirates will be in the Champions League next season again – and really proud that Pirates will represent South Africa on the continent and hopefully better than the last time.”
