Jose Riveiro grateful for Orlando Pirates medical team after Makhehleni Makhaula's incident

Makhaula went down on the pitch just before half-time, lost consciousness, and needed to be resuscitated by the Pirates medical team and paramedics.

He was rushed to the hospital immediately after the game and Riveiro explains it was a difficult situation for everyone on the team.

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"It was a shocking moment for all of us obviously, it's one of those situations where you sometimes have to live yourself [experience], close. We used to see it on TV sometimes and today was our chance to have that feeling and I can tell you it's not nice but thanks to the doctors and the technical assistance, I think they managed to stabilise him because that was a difficult moment, that's what I heard," Riveiro said.

Speaking after a comfortable 4-0 win in the Nedbank Cup last 16 match against Motsepe Foundation Championship outfit Hungry Lions, Riveiro revealed that Bucs will later send an update on Makhaula’s situation.

"What I know is that he's in the hospital, he's in good hands, he's in observation. I guess the club will tell you something tonight I guess to share more details. What I can tell you right now, even though I didn't have the opportunity to speak to Makhaula is that it's okay," Riveiro added.

Bucs were on cruise mode in this game against the 10-man Hungry Lions side, scoring four goals from Morena Monaheng’s own goal, Tshegofatso Mabasa’s brace, and a Monnapule Saleng strike. Reflecting on the game, Riveiro praised Lions for their brave effort and for taking the fight to Pirates in this game.

"A difficult one looking at the result and probably the last minutes were much more comfortable but it was a difficult first half. I think a good opponent, credit to Hungry Lions they came here to play football, not to just sit in the box and they came with compact positioning with the back four very high on the field,” the coach explained.

“So, we have difficulties finding little pockets, we created more danger to ourselves than the opponent every time we tried to find those intermedial positions. A difficult team to deal with because they have discipline, they have speed upfront and like I said, we managed to open the game to get the lead with one of those balls to the space. We have a lot of talent upfront and it was difficult for them to cope and good work from the boys and in the end the objective is to be in the next round."