Muchas gracias Padre Jose Riveiro, por siempre una layenda
José Riveiro leaves South Africa for Al Ahly with his head held high having restored Orlando Pirates to the top of African football
Thank you very much Father José Riveiro, forever a legend!
The words emblazoned on a banner in the Orlando stadium as José Riveiro was given a tearful send off. The Orlando Pirates head coach had previously announced that he would not be staying in Soweto another season and is even now in Cairo ready to take the reins of Al Ahly, but the Spanish coach leaves with his head held high.
Three years, five trophies and millions of smiling faces across South Africa: José Riveiro breathed life back into not only Orlando Pirates, but also South African football.
A club reborn
When Riveiro arrived, Pirates had just come sixth in the Premier Soccer League, their lowest finish in five years. In that time they had one MTN 8 Cup to their name and looked like a club bereft of confidence and ideas. That season they came behind the likes of Cape Town City, Stellenbosch and the now insolvent Royal AM.
At the same time the Buccaneers’ rivals were streets ahead. Mamelodi Sundowns were running away with league and even Kaizer Chiefs, who themselves are a basket case, had reached a CAF Champions League final the same month Riveiro was appointed.
This man, who was brought in to save the club, was an unknown Spanish coach who’s only head coach experience came in Finland with midtable club FC Inter Turku.
Fans were understandably sceptical. Was this another European “plumber” or “carpenter”, one of the talentless European coaches who get jobs in Africa based on their nationality and skin colour rather than their coaching ability.
Riveiro very quickly went about dispelling any negative assumptions. Within four months of his arrival, he’d brought Pirates their first silverware in two years when he won the MTN 8, beating Sundowns 3-0 in the semi finals.
Over the next three seasons Riveiro would win the MTN 8 twice more as well as winning the Nedbank Cup twice. This past weekend they missed out on a third successive Nedbank Cup title, losing to Kaizer Chiefs in the final. Alongside those cup wins were consecutive 2nd place league finishes behind Sundowns. While he was never able to get them over the line and win the PSL, it’s the first time in Orlando Pirates’s history that they have finished in the top two in the PSL in three successive seasons.
That haul makes Riveiro the most successful Pirates coach in the PSL era in terms of silverware. But what makes the success all the more impressive is that it has come during a time in which Sundowns have been arguably the best club side in South African football history. Sundowns have now won eight league titles in a row and in the last few years have gone to another level. Last season they were one game away from going the entire season unbeaten and this season are in the CAF Champions League final.
Per Transfermarkt, in the three seasons Riveiro has been in charge of Pirates they have spent about have a million pounds on transfers. In that same time Sundowns have spent close to nine million pounds, bringing in players from around the continent and the world.
With the kind of depth that money buys, keeping up over the course of a season with Sundowns is virtually impossible. But over the course of smaller cup competitions, Pirates and Riveiro have had Sundowns’ number.
A Bucaneer through and through
But beyond the trophies and outright success, what has made Riveiro so successful is the way he has bought into the players, the fans and the club itself.
There is a reason that on that banner Riveiro is referred to as padre. Thabiso Lebitso put it best when he said, “here I have a father.”
It’s no secret that a lot of South African footballers come from very difficult upbringings, often without a father figure. Riveiro himself was raised mainly by his grandmother in Spain and didn’t have a father figure in his life, something that has deeply impacted the way he relates with his own family and his footballing family.
During an emotional interview with Pirates TV, Boitumelo Radiopane broke down into tears as he described Riveiro being the father figure in his life. Like Riveiro himself, Radiopane was raised by his mother and grandmother.
Certainly the most emotional moment of his send off on Tuesday was Riveiro saying goodbye to the players on the pitch.
And that emotional connection is what has led to Riveiro’s success more than anything else. He has brought tactical discipline to Pirates, but he himself has bought into the culture of the club. Orlando Pirates, perhaps more than any other club in Africa demands a certain style. It is the club that embodies Kasi Flava more than any other in South Africa, the street style of football that is championed across townships in South Africa.
Players like Patrick Maswanganyi and Relebohile Mofokeng are empowered to play dynamic attacking football while also finding the time to stand on the ball or employ the showmanship that is at the heart of their football.
Al Ahly awaits
For all his success in the domestic game, coaches are defined in Africa for what they achieve on the continental stage. Perhaps Riveiro’s biggest disappointment was last season when on their return to the Champions League stage, Pirates were knocked out in the qualifiers by Botswanan club Jwaneng Galaxy.
And so coming into this season and his second bite at the continental cherry, the pressure was on Riveiro and Pirates. They’d shown that they were a brilliant cup team in South Africa but could they show that across Africa? The answer was a resounding yes.
Returning to the group stage of the Champions League the Buccaneers were handed a tough group, Champions Al Ahly, alongside Champions League regulars CR Belouizdad of Algeria and Stade d’Abidjan of Côte d'Ivoire.
Pirates not only won the group, but went unbeaten and beat both Belouizdad and Al Ahly away in North Africa. That loss in Cairo was the first game in 21 that Al Ahly had lost at home in the Champions League across three years.
In the quarter finals, Pirates were drawn against another North African heavy weight in MC Alger and once again Pirates went to North Africa and came away with a win, beating Mouloudia 1-0 in a nervy affair. In the return leg, Riveiro’s side shut down the game, grinding out a goalless draw that took Pirates to their first semi final since 2013.
Pirates ultimately fell short in the semi final, losing 3-2 in the second leg to Pyramids thanks to a late Fiston Mayele goal. But coming within six minutes of a final in your first season back in a competition for five years is not bad, and it was his performance in the Champions League that has ultimately landed Riveiro the Al Ahly job.
The Egyptian Red Devils are defined by one thing every season, did they win everything? While Riveiro has proven himself domestically, it on the continent that Al Ahly are ultimately judged and Riveiro clearly impressed the Egyptians in the way he turned his free flowing attacking side into a cohesive defensive unit during big Champions League games.
Is it the right move? I’m not sure. Riveiro’s true skill has been in connecting with Pirates players on a human level and getting them to buy into his system. In Cairo he won’t be able to speak to most players because of the language barrier.
But beyond that, Al Ahly are an entirely unique beast. Riveiro will have virtually no say on recruitment, very little support from the board and a fanbase that accepts nothing but success in every moment.
He also is joining the club at a very tricky time. Al Ahly are having their worst season in years. For the first time in six seasons they haven’t made the Champions League final. They were knocked out of the Egyptian League Cup, were banned from playing in the FA Cup and are trailing Pyramids in the Premier League.
On top of that was the debacle when the board pulled the team out of the Cairo derby against Zamalek when they complained that no foreign ref was provided to take charge of the game. A ploy intended to bully the league backfired as they were handed a 3-0 loss and huge reputational damage.
It is unclear if Riveiro will immediately take charge of the Egyptian giants but he will certainly take charge for the Club World Cup in a month’s time. With Al Ahly in a group with a flailing Inter Miami, a Porto side miles off the pace in Portugal and Palmeiras, there will genuinely be an expectation in Egypt that Al Ahly get through the group stage.
So the remit is clear, potentially his first game in charge will be in Miami against the greatest player the game has ever seen and anything less than victory will be seen as failure.
No pressure coach…