Jose Riveiro has described Orlando Pirates’ schedule in the 2024/25 season as “complicated,” admitting that he may sound like he’s making excuses following their surprising defeat to Magesi FC in the Carling Knockout Cup.
Pirates suffered a 3-2 loss at the hands of Magesi FC in the first round of the cup tie in front of their supporters at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Saturday afternoon.
The loss marked the start of a challenging period for the Buccaneers, who face a schedule Riveiro seems to believe is ‘tough’ in the coming weeks.
They will take on SuperSport United in the league just two days after the Magesi defeat on Tuesday, followed by a clash against AmaZulu FC about 48 hours later on Friday.
Four days later [Tuesday, 29 October], the Soweto giants will play against TS Galaxy also in the Betway Premiership before enjoying a two-week break ahead of their match against Stellenbosch FC on November 10th.
BUSY TIMES FOR ORLANDO PIRATES
Following a 16-day gap, Pirates will start their CAF Champions League group stage campaign against CR Belouizdad [26 November] and then return to league action against Marumo Gallants seven days later – 03 December.
A daunting encounter against Al Ahly is then on the horizon, followed by three more matches in December against Stade d’Abidjan, Sekhukhune United, and Magesi FC in the league to conclude the year 2024.
“In the new season, Pirates have already racked up 12 matches across all competitions in just 11 weeks. This is the most games played by any team so far in the PSL, tied with Stellenbosch FC. Mamelodi Sundowns and Sekhukhune United are not far behind, with nine and seven matches, respectively. During this time, there was a two-week FIFA international break with some Pirates players representing their national teams.
While most teams in the league have only played three matches, Pirates, Sundowns, and Stellenbosch have been heavily involved in CAF inter-club competitions, having progressed to the group stages. Additionally, Pirates secured the MTN8 title after defeating Stellenbosch in the final a few weeks ago.
Pirates’ busy schedule will extend further in 2025 with their participation in the Nedbank Cup, their fifth competition of the season.
JOSE RIVEIRO BLAMES SCHEDULE FOR MAGESI LOSS
Riveiro has maintained that his team’s schedule is “complicated” despite having a deep squad of nearly 30 players.
“Being at a club like ours, we have the responsibility to compete and win in every competition we play. It is a very difficult task, but we are getting there; we are trying,” said Jose Riveiro.
“Whatever I say right now is going to sound like an excuse, but the schedule is complicated. It is because we have really good players, and that is why we are in every competition, but not anymore after this Magesi defeat. We have a lot of players in the national teams, and that’s the consequence.
“But we are happy about that but we need to again continue finding the ways to perform in every competition.
“…I’m not going to lie; if we rank the competitions, the league is the most important one, but when we go to those cups, we always go with the intention to offer a good performance; today [Saturday] was not that bad but again in four, five particular moments of the game we were not at the [high] level and that was enough to take us out of the competition.”
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