Jose Riveiro's last dance: Orlando Pirates' quest for Nedbank Cup glory

ONE More Time! Not the pop hit by French electronic music duo Daft Punk but then again that is a perfect song to capture what has been labelled The Last Dance as Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro looks to lift the trophy with his beloved Sea Robbers, One More Time.

“Like every other one; it is a pleasure, it’s an honour to One More Time represent Orlando Pirates in the final,” said Riveiro.

“It is something we’ve been working towards since day one since we started together.

“We were lucky enough, we worked hard enough to find ourselves regularly in almost every final. If we can celebrate One More Time.”  

Spaniard Riveiro surprised everyone at the beginning of March when he announced that he will not be renewing his contract with Pirates when it lapses at the end of the season.

And so The Last Dance, which was almost perfect with Pirates chasing a quadruple up until it fell through after they were knocked out of the Caf Champions League and they lost ground in the Betway Premiership chase of champions elect Mamelodi Sundowns.

However, it does not get bigger than fighting for the last silverware of the season against arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs at a sold out Moses Mabhida Stadium. The match will kick-off at 3.30pm on Saturday in the popular Durban venue.

Riveiro, though, is not phased by the magnitude of the occasion.

“Of all the topics in the world, we must not focus on the occasion but focus on the game plan, focus on the way in which we can beat Chiefs. Focus on the way we think they can beat us and try to fix and prevent that. Focus on making Chiefs play bad and us play good. We did it together so many times over the years. We want to make sure that we are better again,” said the Spaniard.

Riveiro is chasing his second three-peat with the Nedbank Cup after he achieved one early in the season winning the MTN8 for a third season running.