Pirates ‘want to write own history’: Riveiro admits Bucs dreaming of PSL title

‘We keep pushing, keep it running and fighting and it’s one way to close an exceptional 2024 for this club’

Boitumelo Radiopane of Orlando Pirates is challenged by Samuel Darpoh of Magesi FC in the Betway Premiership match at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Sunday.
Boitumelo Radiopane of Orlando Pirates is challenged by Samuel Darpoh of Magesi FC in the Betway Premiership match at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Sunday.
Image: Alche Greeff/BackpagePix

He has been asked the question in previous seasons and Jose Riveiro is wise enough not to commit to Orlando Pirates aiming for the league title with as accomplished an opponent as Mamelodi Sundowns leading.

But Pirates’ coach, with his team best positioned of perhaps any side to unseat the seven-time successive champion Brazilians in many years at Christmas, as good as admitted the dream for Bucs is tentatively the Betway Premiership title.

Their 1-0 win against 10-man Magesi FC on Sunday saw Bucs (27 points from 10 games) three points behind Downs (30 from 11) but with a game in hand.

The late start to the 2024-25 Premiership means the league is only at the one-third stage at the New Year. However, Riveiro’s side have put behind them the poor starts in the league that saw them end runners-up by huge 16 and 23-point margins in the Spaniard’s first two campaigns, where Bucs racked up the cup trophies.

When his increasingly fluent combination are not playing irresistible football to sweep opponents aside, they grind out results. They did that again on Sunday at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium to gain a measure of revenge for the 3-2 last-16 Carling Knockout upset at the hands of eventual trophy victors Magesi in October.

Magesi, predictably battling in the league after the cup final shock of Sundowns in November, have sacked the coach who orchestrated it, Clinton Larsen, with assistant Papi Zothwane on the bench as caretaker on Sunday, ahead of the club announcing Owen Da Gama as head coach on Monday.

“You should ask them [the players],” Riveiro said, asked if there is reason to believe 2024-25 can be the season Pirates win their first league title since 2011-12.

“We try to do our job as best we can. We are playing for the club, we are trying to play our best football, we are really ambitious as a group, we want to write our own history with Pirates.

“Today I think we played five or six players from our development — that’s something very special for all of us, for our fans too.

“So little by little, we are getting more material, more experience as a group and growing and growing. And like you see, the fans are always coming in numbers.

“They were behind us and this 2024 was always something special to play in front of them and hopefully next year we can continue to play with the same level of love and appreciation from the supporters, because that’s going to be a good signal.”

He said the win against Magesi secured by Relebohile Mofokeng’s stylish strike just before the break was not Pirates’ best, but Bucs gratefully accepted the crucial three points to end 2024 with back-to-back wins after their 8-1 rout of Marumo Gallants, having slipped before that with a defeat and two draws.

“We keep pushing, keep it running and fighting and it’s one way to close an exceptional 2024 for this club, this team, this group, with one victory that probably with the same game and performance last year could have finished with a 1-1 or even a defeat.

“The team is competing very well.”

Magesi were reduced to 10 men in the 39th minute when Lehlegonolo Mokone was red-carded for a clumsy challenge on Mohau Nkota.

Pirates turn their attention to the Champions League on Saturday where they will hope to continue their promising start to Group C (second place from a win and two draws) when they host Ivory Coast’s Stade d’Abidjan at Orlando Stadium (6pm).


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