Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro admits his first Soweto Derby experience was amazing and uncomfortable but expected the players to do better in front of the capacity FNB Stadium on Saturday.
Pirates came into the game on a high after securing a place in the MTN8 final at the expense of Mamelodi Sundowns but fell to an inconsistent Kaizer Chiefs after Yusuf Maart’s wonder goal in the second half.
But Riveiro said the riveting experience for some of the first-time players in the iconic event is not to blame for not securing the win and suggested that both sets of players didn’t live up to the hype that crowd deserved on the day.
“It’s difficult to know [if the players were overawed by the occassion], I think we are used to playing in these types of crowds, we played in Durban, Polokwane in front of 45,000, 37,000 in Durban, I think the guys are used to it, there’s no issues about that,” Riveiro said.
“Obviously the atmosphere is amazing, it’s nice to be involved in a game like this even though it’s not comfortable for your job, even the referee sometimes whistling, the players they don’t [hear], it’s sometimes crazy how loud is the crowd but like I said before, for me, in front of 90,000 spectators today I think we should perform better, both [teams].”
The Spaniard went on to state that he’ll work tirelessly and meticulously this week in order to avoid a repeat performance against AmaZulu with his first silverware on offer at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday, in what will be another sold-out affair in front of 85,000 fans.
“My players did everything to execute the plan and in order to get a good result, you can’t imagine how important it is for them to get these three points, so what we need to analyse is why it didn’t work, that’s my responsibility, that’s my job and we need to learn from these defeats in order not to repeat it in the upcoming games,” he explained.
“There’s never one reason why you lose a game, there are always many factors, and some of them are things you can’t control, I think it’s a 0-0 game and that’s it, we suffered from a beautiful goal, that’s it and we have to move on.”
