Mabasa salutes Riveiro's special legacy at Orlando Pirates

Riveiro had a huge impact on Mabasa’s career just after returning on loan from Moroka Swallows last season, when he won the Golden Boot award in the league with 16 goals. 

Mabasa says the Spaniard was more than just a coach.

"Coach Riveiro is a great human being. I'm not even talking about football, the coach is special, and what he managed to do for this group, and for this club is really something great," reflected Mabasa. 

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Riveiro left Pirates after having won five trophies in just three seasons, taking the team to the semifinals of the CAF Champions League for the first time in 12 years, and for the third time, finishing as runners-up to Mamelodi Sundowns in the league title race. 

He’s expected to be announced as the new head coach at Africa’s most successful football club, Al Ahly, once the Egyptian league programme has wrapped up this coming week. Mabasa says Riveiro always believed in his players.

Despite finishing the season behind Sundowns again in the league, this hasn’t been an ordinary season for Pirates, looking at the Champions League and winning the most number of games in the league (19) in a 16-team league. 

Mabasa says these are valid points that should be considered when the team is judged on this season in particular.

"I'm really proud of the boys and the effort they sustained throughout the season. There are people who will say it hasn't been a good season for us because of what happened in the Champions League and the Nedbank Cup final, but this is football, and we will learn from these lessons," explained the Buccaneer's talisman. 

In the last two months of the season, Pirates were in contention for the league title, CAF Champions League, and the Nedbank Cup. They were eliminated by Pyramids in the Champions League semis, a stage they hadn't reached in 12 years, something Mabasa says can’t be taken lightly.