Outgoing coach Jose Riveiro held back tears as he reflected on what his stint at Orlando Pirates will mean for his life going forward.
Pirates drew 0-0 with MC Alger in the CAF Champions League quarter-final second leg on Wednesday night to win the tie 1-0 on aggregate and reach the semi-finals.
Before violent altercations between the Pirates and Alger technical teams and players broke out, emotional scenes had erupted after the match.
Most Pirates supporters inside the stadium pleaded with Riveiro to stay, amid the club’s announcement last week that he had decided against renewing his three-year deal at the end of the season.
And so, when he sat for his post-match press conference at the Orlando Stadium auditorium, one of the elephants in the room that needed to be addressed was his imminent departure, following such heartfelt requests.
#TotalEnergiesCAFCL 🏆 2nd Leg QF [Agg: 1-0]
— Orlando Pirates (@orlandopirates) April 9, 2025
FT|| @orlandopirates 0 v 0 @THEDEAN1921
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“You want me to get emotional now? There’s no way,” he said jokingly, before opening up on how the past 33 months as Pirates’ coach had changed his life.
“My life will never be the same after being here as the Pirates coach.
“What else can I tell you? It’s a big change in my life.
“I am not talking about football or games, but all those things that you say – how the people are expressing themselves towards me. It’s something... special.”
The emotional pleas made at Orlando were understandable – Riveiro made The Ghost ‘Happy People’ again.
During his illustrious spell with the club, the 49-year-old won five trophies out of seven in domestic football, and Pirates finished as the runners-up in the league in back-to-back seasons.
Riveiro, speaking after winning Pirates’ record-breaking third successive MTN8 crown late last year, revealed how he had sacrificed time with his family to coach the club.
That revelation, his domestic success, and his role in honing some of the finest talent in the country continued to endear him to The Ghost.
Riveiro’s sacrifices are now paying off as he has led the team to the Champions League semi-final for the first time since 2013, while they are still in the running for the Premiership and the Nedbank Cup.
The Buccaneers will face Marumo Gallants in the cup semi-final on Sunday at the Orlando Stadium (3pm kick-off).
"The sacrifices are part and parcel of my job. I am here for that reason and mandate," Riveiro explained.
"We are here to try and do everything in order to put the club, like Pirates, where it deserves to be — and in the space that the fans want us to be.
"We know how important football is for them, trust me. We are talking about more than just winning one game, but the entire society. We know every day, when we wake up in the morning and go to training, what and who we are playing for."
While Riveiro and the Ghost are now a match made in heaven — with many still determined to convince him to stay — it wasn’t always love at first sight.
The Spaniard was ridiculed and labelled a ‘plumber’—a local term for European coaches who arrive in South Africa with mere qualifications and no proven track record. But thanks to his hard work, his seamless adaptation, and his appreciation of the highs and lows of coaching on a different continent, he became one with the fans.
And so, as his final days approach, Riveiro hopes to make them memorable by challenging for all three trophies still up for grabs.
"But again, still seven to eight weeks, hopefully together here, we can go till the last stages of every competition — which will be, for sure, special," he said.
"Trust me, since I arrived here, if we speak about the fans — and not about you (the media) — they were always friendly, kind and special with the coach.
"So like I said, for me, like I say wherever I go, ‘my life will never be the same after being Pirates’ coach’. This is not just one more club, it’s a very special one."