Relebohile Mofokeng scored a goal that keeps his Orlando Pirates side in the Betway Premiership a title race against Magesi FC at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Sunday. Backpagepix
JOSE Riveiro has described 2024 as having been ‘special and exceptional’ for Orlando Pirates and he is looking to help make 2025 even better.
Speaking after the Buccaneers’ final match of the year – a 1-0 victory away to a Magesi FC side that finished the match with 10 men following Lehlogonolo Mokone’s sending off - the Spaniard promised that his team will continue to do their best to appease their passionate supporters.
“We try to do our job as well as we can; trying to play our best football because we are ambitious as a group. We want to write our own history with Pirates. In 2024 it was always special to play in front of them (the Pirates supporters) and hopefully next year we can continue with the same level of love and appreciation from the fans,” said Riveiro.
Pirates beat Magesi 1-0 courtesy of a special goal by Relebohile Mofokeng who used his skills to sell a defender a dummy before leaving Elvis Chipezeze to clutch at thin air as he slotted home with a shot superbly angled into the far corner of the goal.
The victory sees Pirates ending the year in second position, three points behind champions Mamelodi Sundowns who have played a match more.
Riveiro’s delight at the year is not only because of the good results that saw Pirates winning the Nedbank Cup and the MTN8 as well as qualifying for the CAF Champions League group stage. The Spaniard is pleased at the progress that has been made by the club’s graduates from the development ranks.
“Today we played five or six players from our own development - that is something very special for us because little by little we are getting more matured and experienced together. I am happy to win today because of the very difficult circumstances – especially for Pirates,” he said in reference to the match having been played at the old Peter Mokaba Stadium due to its compact pitch.
“Due to that, it was not our best game and not the best entertainment we could give to the fans who came in numbers to support us. But I am happy with the fact that we managed to keep the zero in our goal in the second half.
“We go back home with three points; we keep going; we keep fighting. It is a good way to close an exceptional 2024 for the club, for this team and for this group - with a good win.”
Riveiro and his team do not have much time to party the exceptional year away though, with Champions League football looming large at the turn of the year. The Buccaneers are scheduled to play three matches back-to-back in January in their quest for a spot in the quarter-final of the continent’s premier club knockout competition.
Pirates, currently second on the table in Group B – behind champions Al Ahly - at the halfway mark, host Stade Abidjan and CR Belouizdad this Saturday and the following Sunday (January 12) before completing their mini-league assignment away to the Egyptian giants on January 18.
“I am happy to win today but in a couple of hours I will start thinking about the Champions League game at home. This one is done. We have to put our minds to the next one. Week in and week out we try our best because all around the world football is exploring a new space of playing every three days, with the travelling and trying to have the players recover. We have to be competitive every three days. I am optimistic about the future of the team.”
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