Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has weighed in on the showboating debate in South African football.
The Spaniard says ‘it is cultural’, but believes the usage of skill shouldn’t be for personal spotlight.
Showboating was on display as Pirates beat Djabal Club of Comoros 3-0 on Friday night at Orlando Stadium in the CAF Champions League.
The likes of Katlego Otladisa, Fortune Makaringe and Relebohile Mofokeng entertained the crowned with flair and skill.
Pirates won the tie 4-0 on aggregate after edging Djabal 1-0 away from home. They will now face Morena Ramoreboli’s Jwaneng Galaxy of Botswana in the second preliminary round of the CAF Champions League.
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RIVEIRO NOT AGAINST SHOWBOATING
Riveiro says he understands that skill and flair are part of South African football. “I’m the foreigner here. I mean, I have to [respect],” he said. It’s [showboating] something cultural in a way.
“I think everything in football is fine as long as it’s useful to gain metres, eliminate players, to feed the next player in the next [attacking] line, and everything is okay.
“Bicycles, step on the ball, but we [must have] purpose, if we do it only for the sake of doing, I don’t know. But, it is what it is – what can I say, I don’t want to give you a headline.
“The technical tricks in football are beautiful to see, but again, with a purpose, you eliminate somebody? It’s fine, you lose the ball, it’s not fine, not at all. But we don’t like to lose the ball, and we don’t want to lose time.
Jose Riveiro added “The way we try to play, we manage to do it sometimes, sometimes not, but trust me, we want to go to the goals, we want to get to the goal as soon as possible, in control, not kicking the ball to the box. But we want to progress as quickly as possible, we like to play with speed.
“But sometimes, if we step on the ball too much, we going against that speed, that’s the thing.”