A delighted Jose Riveiro hailed his side's character as Orlando Pirates clinched a 2-1 extra-time win over Kaizer Chiefs in a Nedbank Cup semi-final at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
Kermit Erasmus and Yusuf Maart scored in regulation time before Sandile Mthethwa scored an extra-time winner to send the Buccaneers through to the competition's final.
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The Spaniard was full of praise for his side's efforts while insisting that Pirates were now intent on lifting the Nedbank Cup final.
"Before the game we thought that we would need to do it within the 90 minutes as we're coming from three games in a row with only a few days in between the games," Riveiro said post-match.
"Even though we made a lot of substitutes today, it's not easy to compete mentally also every two or three days like we are doing.
"We are not going into those games also for free, we are going with the intention to compete and win. It happened [fatigue] in the second half where we paid a bit that bill.
"Just before the equalised, we were about to change our structure with three centre-backs, like we have previously and after that I felt quite comfortable.
"Because the threat was around our area, even as they have good players who can score from 16 to 25 metres, but I think overall we did a fantastic job in the defensive phase.
"We were close to scoring in a couple transitions, and finally we did it with a beautiful goal.
"I'm so happy for Sandile Mthethwa and in general we are so happy and proud and happy for all of them and the whole Pirates family.
Sekhukhune United go up against Stellenbosch FC at the Danie Craven Stadium in the alternate Nedbank Cup semi-final on Sunday for a chance to face Pirates in the final.
Kick-off is at 18:00.
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