Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has called on his counterpart at Chippa United Kwanele Kopo, to explain the description of the abusive language used during a heated exchange during the Nedbank Cup semi-final.
Pirates booked their place in the final of the Nedbank Cup after beating Chippa by 3-1 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Saturday.
However, the match was not short of tension and drama, which also saw striker Bienvenu Eva Nga receive his marching orders in the second half.
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Kopo lashed out at Riveiro during the post-match TV interview, accusing the Bucs coach of using abusive language during the match. But the Spaniard explained his displeasure at the heated exchange.
“There were moments of tension between the benches and I was not happy and not comfortable with the situation inside the field, with some of the behaviour and some things happening in the game which for me are not related to football at all,” Riveiro said, in response to Kopo’s accusation.
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“One of the things that belongs to my role is to try and protect players and defend my players. I am a quiet person, extremely peaceful but there are moments when you have to stand up and ask some questions about what going on. Thats all.
“I really want to hear the words that he said were abusive or not abusive because I think nothing happened out of the limits of the competition and the swearing came from every angle, not only from our bench," the Pirates mentor added.
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“Things happen during games when emotions are high and motivation is so high before matches and maybe things are not going the way you want them to, or you were dreaming yesterday when you went to sleep and suddenly you find a different reality, its difficult to control yourself.
“But I think the Pirates bench was behaving correctly and professionally and especially defending and protecting our players, which is our obligation,” he added.
Orlando Pirates are now set to meet Mamelodi Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup final at the Mbombela Stadium on June 1.
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