Jose Riveiro predicts a bright future for teenage sensation Mohau Nkota

The teenage sensation from Kimberley came on as a sub for Monnapule Saleng when Pirates was already 3-0 down in the second half, and he contributed to piling on the pressure, with the opposition finally cracking toward the end.

Riveiro predicts a bright future for Nkota (19), a player he feels offers a different dimension to their attack.

"Mohau came in a difficult moment, in a moment of responsibility and he answered in the right way. If we decide to go with Mohau in the second half, it's obviously because we know him very well, we know the moment he's going through, he's in a really good space,” Riveiro said.

“He's pushing hard to get minutes and compete for getting minutes in a team like ours. I think immediately he came and generated problems for the opponent, one short of target I think inside the first three, four minutes he was on the field.

“He's a tricky player to defend, where Magesi was reducing the spaces very close in the box, defending very, very low. Mohau is a player that is growing fast, he's one of the players who are really competing to be on the field and that's why in this case, the coach decides to give him the responsibility."

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It was an unusual situation for Pirates to see themselves 3-0 down at half-time at Orlando Stadium, but Riveirio says these are the moments that will make the team grow together and become stronger.

"There is a situation preparing you, straight, live, you go to half-time, it's 3-0 down, you are in Orlando Stadium and people are still waiting for you, you have to go outside and show that you have the character and the personality to go and fight for the result,” he added.

“I mean it's football, we hit the post three times in the second half. If we managed to score one or two games early in the game, probably the result would have been different. We have to take this game and the defeat to keep growing as a team."