STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF A GIANT
Named after retired Brazilian star Rivaldo – Coetzee has always been aware of the w eight that his name carries since he was a kid. Though the Brazilian was a left-lftf ooter t whoh played d n advanced d positions, reaching his best at AC Milan and Barcelona, Coetzee still feels he can only hope to emulate a bit of what the older Rivaldo did. “No. Not yet,” he responds when asked if he feels he is living up to his name. “I was obviously named after the Brazilian and I came to know of that from Primary School because my father’s friends used to make fun of the name. “Before I went to Ajax people used to make fun of the fact that my name is Rivaldo, yet I am a defender instead of being a forward. They would always tell me of how good he was and show me video clips as well, but I don’t put myself under pressure because of that. “I just do what is required of me from our technical team. I know the weight of the name is heavy but I’m trying to do the best I can in my position. “As a holding midfielder you don’t get to score many, but you can venture into areas where you can assist or score every now and then,” he says.