Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has responded to heated claims made by Chippa United co-coach Kwanele Kopo in their Nedbank Cup semi-final clash this weekend.
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In a match that was filled with emotions both on and off the field, Pirates progressed to the Nedbank Cup final thanks to a 3-1 win over the Chilli Boys.
But perhaps the matters off the pitch took away from those on the field as the two benches seemingly had some choice words towards each other throughout the match.
Speaking to SuperSport after the match, Kopo launched a scathing attack aimed at Riveiro in which he claimed the Spaniard hurled insults of a derogatory nature in his direction.
However, in the post-match press conference that ensued, Riveiro revealed that there were indeed insults - but that it had come from both directions and that nothing untoward happened.
"I don’t have opinions about other colleagues’ opinions. It doesn't make any sense. Who am [I] if he feels that we use abusive [language?]. There were moments of tension between the benches because I was not happy and I was not comfortable with the situation inside the field with some behaviour and some things that were happening during the game, which for me are not related with football at all," he told journalists.
“And one of one of the things that belong to my role is to try to protect my players and defend my players and I am a quiet person, peaceful, extremely peaceful, but there are moments that that you have to stand up and make some questions about what's going on. That's all then he [Kopo] can give you a description. I'm ready to hear the words that he says are abusive or not abusive because I think that nothing happened there out of the limits of competition, let's say.
“And the swearing came from every angle, not only from our bench so... Things that happen during the games, when the emotions are high and the motivation is so high before the matches and maybe the things are not going the way you wanted or the way you were dreaming yesterday when you went to sleep and suddenly you find the reality which is different and it's difficult to control yourself, but I think Orlando Pirates’ bench was behaving in a, in a correct way, in a professional way and especially defending and protecting our players, which is our obligation."
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