Riveiro looking to adapt to continental football as quickly as possible

Orlando Pirates head coach, Jose Riveiro says it is important for him to quickly learn and adapt to continental football in order to help his players do well in this season’s TotalEnergies CAF Champions League. 

The Spanish coach was speaking from his club’s training base in Johannesburg on Thursday ahead of the Buccaneers’ return leg against Djabal of Comoros on Friday evening at Orlando Stadium.

The 1995 champions and 2013 runners-up welcome the Islanders to Soweto with a slim 1-0 advantage, courtesy of a late strike by the in-form Zakhele Lepasa in the first leg. 

In his first stint as Pirates coach after taking over from Mandla Ncikazi, who led the team to the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup final two seasons ago, the Spaniard guided Pirates to two cup final victories and a second-place finish in the championship. 

Now tasked with emulating the same success on the continent, Riveiro conceded to the competition being new to him but was ready to adapt himself quickly in order to help his side. 

“It’s something new for me but I was already well instructed before the competition started. I got a lot of info from my players and coaching staff to prepare myself for a competition that requires a different type of mindset. You have to be ready to react and adapt yourself to many circumstances,” said the coach. 

Touching on the slender advantage the team carries ahead of the return leg in Orlando, Riveiro cautioned against complacency, warning that the margins in modern football have narrowed and require full preparation for all matches. 

“It’s not going to be easy. It’s a knockout game. The advantage is not that big that we can say that this is already done. We are going with a 1-0 advantage against a well-organized team. Very strong, very athletic, very physical and they were able to contend us.

"We know what we want and we know what type of performance we want to deliver and the result is going to be a consequence of that. In football nowadays, the distance between the teams is very thin. If you are sleeping, you’re out and this is not an exception” warned Riveiro. 

Kick-off at Orlando Stadium on Friday evening at 17h30 GMT.