‘You don’t need to speak badly about Pirates to speak well about Sundowns,’ said the Pirates head coach.
Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has launched an impassioned defence of his side, ahead of their Betway Premiership showdown with Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday at FNB Stadium.
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Pirates are the closest challengers to Sundowns in the title race, but are 18 points behind Masandawanaheading into Sunday’s match. Riveiro’s Buccaneers do have four games in hand on Sundowns. But the smart money is on the Tshwane giants romping to an eighth successive Premiership title.
Pirates’ fantastic season
Pirates have had a fantastic season under Riveiro. They won the MTN8, and have reached the Caf Champions League quarterfinals and the Nedbank Cup semifinals.
They have also competed well in the Premiership, at one stage looking like they would run Sundowns to the wire. A succession of postponed matches have not helped, however. And Sundowns have built an ominous lead.
“They have a lot of points for a reason,” said Riveiro this week, when asked if Sundowns were simply too good for the rest.
“If they continue collecting points at the same level that will go over 80 points. You don’t need to ask the Pirates coach if they are good or not … they are performing at a level that is new for everyone in terms of points.
‘A lot of games to play’
“(But) there are still a lot of games to play in the league for us. We have 12 games left to play. At the end of the season is when we will analyse how close we are, if we could have done better or not.
“We are not looking for distractions (now). We know our numbers, where and how we are performing, why we couldn’t get three points in our last match (Pirates drew 0-0 with Stellenbosch on Tuesday).
“We are trying to run our race and not look at anyone else. We just want to be ourselves and if it is enough to be champions we will celebrate. If not, if it is because someone is doing better, it doesn’t mean we are not doing well.
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“You don’t need to speak badly about Pirates to speak well about Sundowns. That is a mistake you are making all the time and it is not fair. We are competing so well. Maybe other teams are not doing the same and that is why the league is not equal, but it is not about Pirates.”
