Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has shed light on how he’s been preparing his charges for the upcoming 2024/25 Betway Premiership.

The Buccaneers have been juggling between domestic and continental duties with the league season set to resume on 14 September, following the announcement of Betway as the new sponsorship as first reported by Sportswire in July. 

Despite being in action in the meantime and hosting Cape Town City in the second leg of the MTN8 semi-final at Orlando Stadium on Saturday (15:00), Riveiro acknowledges the need to protect and save his players for other domestic competitions with the Soweto giants tipped to challenge Mamelodi Sundowns for the league title given their squad and depth. 

“It’s planning. As I said, one of the keys is to plan and it’s not a contradiction that today we are here, but at the same time you need to think about what’s coming, September is going to be hectic, ” Riveiro said. 

“We need to integrate as many players as possible, and I think that’s something we did well in these two games.” 

The two-time Nedbank Cup and MTN8 winning coach has explained how he’s been trying to keep his squad fresh in consideration of the Premier Soccer League campaign. 

“With a lot of players, but if you are painting [the picture] in these two games, last time in Mauritius [against Disciples FC] we started with Phillip [Ndlondlo] and [Makhehleni] Makhaula and on Friday we started with [Thalente] Mbatha and KB [Kabelo Dlamini] and Tito [Patrick Maswanganyi], with those three in the middle,” said Riveiro, who has helped Pirates finished twice as second in the last two seasons.

As Pirates host City on Saturday, the Soweto giants has never lost to Eric Tinkler’s side at Orlando Stadium and they are seen as a heavy favorite to go through having scored a vital goal away. 

Article by Trevor Magoro