Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro says playing at 2010 FIFA World Cup venue, Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban has brought him luck in his coaching career thus far.
This is because Riveiro has won all three matches his team played at the venue since appointed by Orlando Pirates on three-year in June last year.
Riveiro’s side first beat Royal AM 1-0 in the club’s second league win of the 2022/23 season, followed by a 1-0 win over AmaZulu in the MTN8 final in November last year.
In their last league game of the season, when they had to ensure that they win to finish second in the DStv Premiership and qualify for the CAF Champions League, they crushed AmaZulu 4-0, with Monnapule Saleng running the show, leaving Riveiro saying this venue is proving to be his lucky charm.
“It’s fantastic place for me,” Riveiro told iDiski Times.
“I have been there three times and we have got three victories. Royal AM, if I’m not mistaken, the final of the MTN8 and against AmaZulu. So I’m happy to come here at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.”
It is not a surprise that this venue has a special place in Riveiro’s heart.
Spain, Riveiro’s home country, made history there twice in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, first losing the opening match against Switzerland, when Gerard Pique was caught and Gelson Fernandez took full advantage to score, creating one of the biggest upsets for the 2008 UEFA European Championship winners in World Cup finals.
However, Spain also celebrated one of their biggest wins at Moses Mabhida, as they beat Germany in the semi-final thanks to a bullet header by Carles Puyol, qualifying for their first World Cup final ever.
They then made history, winning the 2010 World Cup trophy, becoming the first nation to win the FIFA premier’s event after they lost the opening group-stage match.
Riveiro remembered all of that, as if it was like yesterday.
