Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro says they will prove their opening day defeat was an accident and expressed confidence they can compete for multiple honours this season.
Pirates face off against Royal AM this evening at Esgodini after their opening day 1-0 loss to Stellenbosch at Danie Craven on Saturday.
Antonio van Wyk’s first-half goal secured a surprise win for the home side as Pirates were left frustrated, having enjoyed an end-of-season run of 13 games unbeaten and an impressive pre-season preparation in Spain for the 2023/24 season.
“We have to [move on], I think we lost was Chiefs in February, after that, we had a fantastic record together and if I have to lose one game, I would like to do it like [against Stellenbosch], fighting until the end,” Riveiro said when asked about the challenge of a congested season that lies ahead.
“It’s football, it can happen that you perform like we did and go home with zero points. Psychologically I think we are ready [to compete in multiple competitions].
“We have 36 players in the squad to try and mitigate the eight games in August with long trips, long waits in the airport we find playing on the continent… but we had time in pre-season to prepare ourselves for this scenario.
“It’s easy to say we want to compete in every competition but we need to be consequent with what we think and what we say – it’s not going to be a big problem that we lost [against Stellenbosch], we’re lucky we play [Royal AM] at home… and show that [the defeat was an accident.”
Riveiro, who won the MTN8 and Nedbank Cup in his debut campaign will lead Pirates in the newly formed Carling Cup and the CAF Champions League this season along with the DStv Premiership and the two cups he will be aiming to defend with the Buccaneers.
