Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has made a frank admission about the league as his side continues their impressive run in cup competitions.
The Buccaneers returned from the FIFA break in style as they brushed aside Cape Town Spurs 2-0 to book a quarter-final spot.
This was their first match after winning the MTN8 trophy two weeks ago. The Soweto giants triumphed 3-1 over Mamelodi Sundowns on penalties to defend their last season’s top-eight crown.
Meanwhile, it was the third trophy for Riveiro who also won them the Nedbank Cup in the previous campaign.
The DStv Premiership title has been eluding Ezimnyama Ngenkani since the 2012/13 season. They last won it in the 2011/12 season under the guidance of Augusto Palacios
The Spanish mentor admitted the league is the “most important competition”. He says they’re looking to emulate the cup competition performances in the league.
WHAT IS JOSE RIVEIRO’S LEAGUE ADMISSION?
“It’s a fact, we haven’t won the league for a long period,” he said in the post match press conference.
“The league is the most important competition, it goes without saying. It’s 30 games, away and home against everybody in every type of circumstances; hot, raining…
“So, it’s the most important competition and we really want to find our rhythm also in that competition. It’s a very particular situation…in the last 65 or 66 days we played two league games which is very unusual.
“Today, we played our fourth competition in two months and a half. We’re trying to keep the level in every tournament we play. We’re trying our best.
“It’s difficult mentally to face this amount of competitions in a short space of time. But trust me that our intention is at the same level in our league games.
“We are now 100% focused on AmaZulu on Tuesday. And personally, I think my opinion will be shared with every coach in the world, the league is the most important tournament.
‘IT DOESN’T MEAN OTHER TOURNAMENTS AREN’T IMPORTANT’
“It doesn’t mean the other tournaments like this one are not important. I think every competition have relevance. This is an opportunity to improve the history of the club.
“Today we celebrate and on Sunday [during the draw] we will be there having one more opportunity to compete. That’s what we want but at the same time our focus is right now on AmaZulu, Polokwane etc because we really want to compete.”
Pirates are next in action on Tuesday, 24 October with AmaZulu in the league. The match takes place at the Moses Mabhida Stadium at 7:30 pm.
The Sea Robbers sit 14th on the table with seven points after five games while Usuthu are 11th with ten points after eight games.
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