Former Pirates captain: Why Riveiro left the club

Former Orlando Pirates captain Innocent Maela has lifted the lid on Jose Riveiro's exit from the Buccaneers in May.

The Spaniard became a legend after three MTN8 and two Nedbank Cup trophies in three seasons at Pirates. According to Maela, Riveiro simply grew tired from the demands of the job.

“His energy, you could see that he was tired,” Maela said on Lemii LoCo On Sports YouTube Channel. “For me personally, if he continued, I think the club would have went down (the table) instead of going up. You could just tell he was really tired.”

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The Mpumalanga-born defender said continuing with the job would have affected the team. Deciding to quit was the best decision for Riveiro.

"I know people are saying 'give him two more years' but I don't think he had it in him, because the coach demands a lot. It's not easy," the former TS Galaxy star added.