Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro said his side was the better team as they progressed to the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League.
The Buccaneers recorded a goalless draw with MC Alger at the Orlando Stadium on Wednesday night to progress with a 1-0 aggregate scoreline, following their 1-0 victory in Algeria last week.
Riveiro’s side will now play Pyramids in the last four, after the Egyptian side’s 4-3 win over AS FAR.
Speaking after the game, the Bucs boss paid tribute to his players. He told SABC Sport: “Orlando Pirates was the better team, I think, during the two games.
“So congratulations to the boys, to the club, to our fans. This is a fantastic moment for all of us and we have to really enjoy the moment. There’s nothing that can change the fact that we are in the semi-finals.”
Riveiro added that his side played a competitive, if not beautiful game against the Algerian league leaders.
“They are a strong, good side, so they have the capacity at least to take you there for two or more times after the long ball. But I don’t think that we suffered so much in those actions,” he said.
“I think the game of our back-five, back-three was excellent [Thalente] Mbatha and [Makhehleni] Makhaula in the second balls Rele [Relebohile Mofokeng]. The way that Dion [Hotto] and Deano [Van Rooyen] helped us to run away of the pressing in the first half it was excellent.
“We play with a big heart. We play the way that you have to play this type of games. It’s not about making the game beautiful. It’s not going to be beautiful, it cannot be.
“You need two teams to try to play good football. If it’s only one, it’s not possible. So you know it’s going to be a battle. It’s going to be a war and it was like that what we expected.”