New Black Leopards coach Alejandro Dorado believes Orlando Pirates double-winner Jose Riveiro has paved the way for his arrival in South Africa.
The 38-year-old was unveiled as new Leopards head coach at Meropa Casino on Monday, becoming the third coach from Spain in the country after Jose Riveiro at Orlando Pirates and Pablo Franco at AmaZulu.
The former Real Madrid youth coach admits that had Riveiro not done well in his first season in the DStv Premiership there wouldn’t be much of an interest of Spanish coaches.
“Everyone knows that when one coach arrives in one country and he starts to win everybody in that country starts to see his country and say ‘hey I want a Spanish coach’,” Dorado said at a press conference.
“I didn’t work with Riveiro but he worked at Helsinki before me and he is from the same place as me in Spain. If Riveiro didn’t win here last season with Orlando Pirates maybe I wouldn’t be here. And if one English guy or French had won the last season with Orlando Pirates the fans would want an English or French coach and an English coach would be here”
“Now is the moment for Spanish coaches to work in the best teams, well not in the best teams but Guardiola is there, Luis Enrique is there and other Spanish coaches will start to grow and it will start to show the capacity that we have and the knowledge that we have in Spain in other countries and in other teams”
“And here in South Africa it was Riviera first then Pablo Franco at AmaZulu and now Alejandro Dorado here at Black Leopards. I hope at the end of the year Alejandro wins and AmaZulu and Orlando Pirates too. That will be good”
Dorado has signed a three-year deal with Lidoda Duvha and has been tasked with promoting the side to the DStv Premiership after they bought the status of All Stars.
