Jose Riveiro has disclosed that he is neither perfect nor an angel in walking out of the Orlando Pirates job after lifting five trophies during his time at the club.
Riveiro was on the bench for the last time as Pirates coach on a Tuesday night, accompanied by the rare sights of a coach being given a farewell.
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The appreciation message written in Spanish by The Ghost on the banner behind the goal adjacent to Martha Louw Road was loud and clear: ‘MUCHAS GRACIAS PADRE JOSE RIVEIRO POR SIEMPRE UNA LEYENDA’.
For all the calm that has been the definition of his personality at the Soweto giants, the Spaniard spoke out a bit more than usual about himself.
"I’m not perfect, hey," said Riveiro in response to a question from this publication after the 3-0 win over Golden Arrows.
"I’m not an angel.
"I’m calm and have composure, and I try to be as reasonable as possible and reflexive as possible.
"Like everyone else, I have my moments when I’m not doing the right things.
"I’m the person that I am because I guess, like you guys and everyone else, I’m an accumulation of experiences during my whole life.
"I have had a curious life in many senses, but we will not talk about that right now.
"But I can tell you that I’m here where I am, I’m not a former football player.
"I’m coming from the very bottom and when I tell you the very bottom, I started coaching in the lowest division in my country.
"That lowest is lowest until I’m sitting here.
"So, during that process, I have had to do a lot of things to be at the level where I am right now.
"That process humbles you and teaches you how difficult it is to achieve things when you start from the bottom.
"If you appreciate all those things, then you can manage to be the way I am and the personality that I have.
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"If I do a relation about my personality and football, it shows my personal life is related to that, the fact that I’m coming from the very bottom.
"I’m here because I’m working for it.
"I’m not here because I got the lottery," says Riveiro.
