While they may not be getting the desired game time at the club, Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro was full of praise for the club’s substitute players in their MTN8 triumph on Saturday.
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The Spanish coach, in his short time in the DStv Premiership, has made it a habit to refrain from commenting on individual players, regardless of their form or lack thereof.
However, after clinching the MTN8 title on Saturday, the coach was full of praise for the likes of Vincent Pule, Eva Nga and Kabelo Dlamini who all came on as second half subs at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Riveiro says players need to get accustomed to their roles within the club to contribute to the success of the collective.
“I’m not the person to say what we do right or what we do great. We do a lot of things to have cohesion in our team and when I don't talk about the players as individuals, it's not only for one reason but one of the reasons is because we really believe in the collective and today it was proven,” he told journalists after the match.
“We made two substitutions after 85 minutes, KB and Eva Nga came onto the field, and they gave you the best five minutes that they can give you today. It doesn't matter, they are not upset and thinking why didn't you play me before? They are just trying to contribute."
"[Vincent] Pule, he did everything in order to be ready for this game. He wanted to be here tonight. He was doing super good rehab in the last month at least in order to be here. They want it. It's gonna be key in all sports in future that players accept their roles and accept that they’ll play 20 minutes, and do it because they can make the difference in 20 minutes. You can be the MVP of the game in 20 minutes. You can come to the field and contribute, not just being angry and upset because i would like to be part of the start."
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"Little by little we need to educate the players to be part of the collective as much as possible," he said.
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