I am not a cup specialist – Riveiro after third MTN8 final

Having established himself as a cup specialist with four domestic trophies, Orlando Pirates tactician Jose Riveiro has downplayed the "specialist tag" insisting he is nowhere near that as his responsibility is to make sure the club continues to win trophies.

Riveiro guided the Buccaneers to their third successive MTN8 final when they beat Cape Town City 2-0 (3-1 on aggregate) at Orlando Stadium on Saturday and they are on course to become the first team to win the title third time in a row.

Goals by Tshegofatso Mabasa and Man of the Match Deon Hotto sealed the deal as the Buccaneers advanced to yet another final.

"I know myself very well better than anybody else and I don't consider myself any [cup specialist], I'm not anywhere near special or anything," Riveiro said during the post-match press conference.

"I'm just trying to understand the place where I am. I'm not pretending to be what I'm not. I try to do my job as well as possible every day.

"I try to help these guys to make their dreams possible and play football to do it as well as possible. We have a big responsibility here all of us in the club to try to make our fans as happy as possible.

"We have the opportunity to change lives sometimes. We do our job and have that responsibility in mind."

The Buccaneers have been a different team when it comes to knockout competitions compared to league matches and the Spaniard said this is because of the mentality they have as a group in cup games.

"Cup football is different from league matches and the reasons why are obvious, I don't need it to describe it here," he said.

"The talent of the guys is always there. Our approach is pretty much the same in every game. But we bring in something special probably in mentality and ambitions in these types of games that are taking us in the last matches in each competition.

"This is our third final in a row and we managed to be in the final of the SA Cup [Nedbank Cup] and we need to give the value that we have because we play finals almost every month, something which is not usual.

"We need to enjoy these moments and the guys need to realise what they are doing because they are writing a fantastic chapter in the history of the club and they must be proud."

The Buccaneers will now shift their focus to the CAF Champions League second preliminary round first leg against Jwaneng Galaxy on September 13 away after the Fifa international break. 

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