No time for Pirates “pity party”

by Staff Reporter

Sunday May 11, 2025. 10:55

Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has said his side have no time to wallow in the sadness of their Nedbank Cup final defeat and must turn their attention to their upcoming league fixture on Tuesday.

The Buccaneers were beaten 2-1 by bitter rivals Kaizer Chiefs in the Nedbank Cup final on Saturday, denying Riveiro a third successive Nedbank Cup title.

Riveiro, who will leave Orlando Pirates at the end of the season, said the cup final loss was as heartbreaking as Pirates’ exit from the CAF Champions League after their semi-final loss to Pyramids FC.

“Both. Both. Yeah. Again even against Sekhukhune recently. And you know, each and every game that we lose, you can ask the players the way they feel and for me it is the same. For me, every game is an opportunity to beat somebody, and when you don’t do it and you are competitive, you don’t sleep. I understand that today was a big game, it’s a final that we’ve lost. And tomorrow we go again because Tuesday, we’re going to face a test one more time in the league (at home to Lamontville Golden Arrows).”

“This is football, this is competition. And losing a final like today is an opportunity for everyone, everyone to understand how difficult it is to win the finals and what this group did in the past five finals in a row, is something exceptionally, it’s something that we have to give value to,” he said after the match.

While the result undoubtedly hurts, Riveiro stated there was no time to dwell on the game and the club will need to focus on what is ahead.

“I cannot tell you which one is more painful. The pain is the same because the way you visualise your day today is different from the way that is going to end. Now we have to beat Arrows in a few days and then play TS Galaxy and so on. Like I said, we don’t have to feel sorry. The pity party ends tomorrow morning and we start to prepare for the next one because it’s important to win the next match after a day like today. We’ll cry a little bit tonight, metaphorically, and tomorrow we have to regroup, we have to travel back home, we have to recover. Like I said, we cannot feel so sorry about ourselves.”

Having made deep runs into all competition they were involved in, the final was Pirates’ 48th game of the season but Riveiro did not blame the loss on their intense schedule this season.

“But we managed to compete very well in every competition, so it can never be an excuse. We have to deal with the fatigue, we have to deal with all the elements in front of us to be what we want to be … cup winner. Today, we couldn’t do it,” he said.

Pirates will face Lamontville Golden Arrows for the second time in a week when they host them at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday.

By Nic Gleeson