just now ;Orlando Pirates’ declaration of intent to challenge Mamelodi Sundowns’ hegemony is sent by Jose Riveiro, saying, “We are cooking.”
In a sign of things to come for the Buccaneers in the upcoming season, the Spaniard ensured that his team denied the Brazilians two trophies this season.
This season, Pirates defeated Masandawana in the Cup final and defeated Downs in the MTN8 final.
For Riveiro, it’s still a work in progress.
Consequently, what happened?
In the MTN8 final in October 2023, Orlando Pirates defeated Mamelodi Sundowns for the first time.
Subsequently, the Soweto giants once again demonstrated their resilience by overturning Masandawana in the Nedbank Cup final.
Doubling over the Brazilians in the Cup finals may not be seen as an exception, but rather as a sign of things to come for the Pirates the following year.
Jose Riveiro, the coach of the Buccaneers, is modest in his evaluation of their accomplishments but issues a subdued warning to end Sundowns’ hegemony in the local football league.
RIVEIRO’S MENTION
“If you ask me as a person who’s involved in the group every single minute and I know what we are, what you used to say here ‘cooking’,” Riveiro told SABC Sport.
“We are cooking, I think the progression, the evolution of the team, this season is superior to the last season in my opinion,” Riveiro stated.
“That means 8/10 or seven and a half, I don’t know, it might be our fans the ones who will in the end and you guys judge the work that we do but me because my position may be an important part of the group.”As I have stated, this football season is greater than the previous one.”
THE LARGER IMAGE
Even though the Pirates defeated Masandawana in two Cup finals, their silverware haul remained unchanged, despite Riveiro’s belief that they had improved from the previous season.
They were the MNT8 champions, the Nedbank Cup winners, and Sundowns’ runners-up in the Premier Soccer League in 2022–2023.
That is just what they accomplished in this recently concluded term, during which they added no new trophies despite demonstrating the ability to end the Brazilians’ hegemony in domestic football.
