Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro: Record third Nedbank Cup title matters

Kabelo Dlamini’s well-worked goal ensured that the Bucs sailed through to the final as they edged Marumo Gallants 1-0 at Orlando Stadium on Sunday. 

Riveiro has made their intentions clear for this final, discarding their history of winning their previous two Nedbank Cup finals.

"Right now, this one matters and the next one – the others [from the past] are a memory, so we continue, we are in sport and we continue evolving in the sport, we want to do more," said Riveiro.

"The record itself doesn't matter, but it matters that we're not just happy going to a final, being there for a party and fireworks – it's nice to be there, but when it's time to go, we go with the intention to be competitive, try to be better than the opponent and [win].

"And it's not just about me, personally, and I don't want to be too modest – usually we are competitive, we care about what we achieve, but it's not something you think about all the time, that you're in the competition and it's an opportunity to get three in a row, no.

"We just want to do it again because it's our jobs – I'm not going to say obligation to do it, but it's why we are here."

Pirates and Chiefs will be meeting in a cup final for the first time in nearly 11 years, since the 2014 MTN8 final – also played at Moses Mabhida Stadium, when Amakhosi walked away victors.

Riveiro, who has yet to lose a cup final since his arrival at The Buccaneers in 2022, says the advantage of having won their previous five finals is that he no longer has to convince his charges they are capable.

"Confidence is something you can apply to anything else in life, if you go through something and you run away victorious or successful, the next time you find yourself in a similar scenario, you already know you are capable of doing it," he added.

"Nobody needs to convince you are capable, like I don't need to convince my players as a coach that they are capable, that they have the capacity, or that they are good enough.

"Knowing that, in these types of games, there's an opponent that wants the same thing as you, and they want it badly, so you have to do a lot of things to be successful.

"We played, actually, our first Nedbank Cup final against Sekhukhune United and started 1-0 down but changed the result; we played Mamelodi Sundowns last year, started the game 1-0 down and managed to change the result in 90 minutes.

"We played a final earlier this season against Stellenbosch FC, started the game trailing 1-0 and managed to change the result in the last part of the game as well, and that's something that speaks volumes about the character of the team, and their confidence."

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