Football gods aren’t stupid!

Orlando Pirates’ recent silverware success came by no fluke and was written in the stars because they have been ticking all the boxes. Football gods are not stupid to allow them to win three consecutive cup competitions, putting a stop to Mamelodi Sundowns’ long-lasting dominance in the local football scene, without them getting their act together. Something right must have happened for the Soweto giants to turn the corner after going through a cup drought that made them, and their arch rivals Kaizer Chiefs, a laughing stock and sleeping giants of South African football.

No one can point a finger at Pirates for not challenging Sundowns, even though there is still a massive gap between the two teams when it comes to league competition. However, Rome wasn’t built in a day and it will always take time to unsettle the formidable Chloorkop-based team because their success is not from the microwave. They have invested a lot of hard work, finances, blood and sweat over the years. Winning the league six times on the trot is not a reflection on the level of competition, or lack thereof, that they are faced with but rather the rewards of their investment as they are reaping the rewards.

Since the arrival of coach Jose Riveiro, Pirates have become a completely different team and reminded all sundry that they had it within them to revive the team’s fortunes. It had been a while since the Houghtonbased club dominated local football – in fact, since their double-treble winning seasons (2010/11 and 2011/12), they only had the 2014 Nedbank Cup and 2020 MTN8 championships in their trophy cabinet to shout about. For a big team like Bucs, with such a rich history, it was both unacceptable and unfortunate that they were not mentioned among the best teams and seldom challenged for anything. To right their wrongs, they’ve also stabilised their technical team and ensured that there’s continuity in the coaching staff, with coach Riveiro planning his pre-season well ahead, knowing what he needed to work on as he now knew his team like the back of his hand, unlike the previous campaign when he was an unknown and only relied on tapes to keep tabs on his charges. The Buccaneers also broke the trend by spending time in Spain, for their pre-season camp, where they faced some stiff competition from their overseas counterparts. That was priceless experience, not just for the new signings and young players in the team but even the long-serving members of the squad. That was one of the clear indications that the team is looking to close the gap on the Brazilians, who have turned the DStv Premiership into a oneteam league as they’ve ascended the podium six times to collect their league titles, gold medals and the winner’s cheque.

Yes, Pirates have started the new campaign in a slump, managing only seven points out of a possible 15, following their two wins, a draw and two losses so far. They’ve found the back of the net seven times while conceding five times, sitting 14th on the log. No one can claim there is no player improvement in the team, just as coach Riveiro can’t be accused of being tactically na ve. They’ve had three league games postponed due to their CAF inter-club commitments, but seven points is a far cry for a team looking to challenge Sundowns at the summit. If they are to knock coach Rhulani Mokwena’s charges off their perch, they need to do a lot better. Ka Bo Yellow have amassed 24 points from eight games and remain the only team without a loss, while they share the ‘draws’ column with Cape Town Spurs, who have lost all their eight games played so far. As if the poor start to the campaign wasn’t enough for Bucs, their Champions League exit at the hands of Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy FC via a 5-4 penalty shootout result after playing to a 1-0 loss away in the first leg and a 1-0 win in the second leg at Orlando Stadium, in only the second preliminary round, was downright embarrassing and left many a team’s supporters asking themselves questions they had no answers to. Not only did the result humiliate Pirates but South African football at large, as the Buccaneers were expected to make a strong presence in this competition as they marked their return after a while. Moreover, if there was a strong enough team than the previous one that reached the finals of the Champions League and Confederation Cup, it has to be the current crop of players, but that didn’t prove to be the case.

No one knows the pain inflicted on the Bucs supporters by that embarrassing defeat more than coach Riveiro. The Spaniard knows there is only one way to appease the Ghost and that is to go back to the continental stage and stake a claim for a place among the best teams in the continent, next season. Apart from the consistency in the technical team and playing personnel, Pirates now have an identity in their game model. This is one of the things that have been missing from the Houghton-based team for some time now because coaches hardly had enough time to take off their jackets and hang them on the back of their office doors before they were shown the exit door or parted amicably. Whether they are leading or trailing, everyone knows what to expect from Pirates because, unlike most DStv Premiership teams, they don’t play and hope to win. They have a way in which they are trying to win and everyone who has watched them in the last decade or so will tell you this is one club where winning is never more important than the style of play or how the victory was achieved. Ask coach Roy Barreto or Gordon Igesund, two coaches who brought league trophies to Pirates but remain in the shadows of Kostadin Papic in the Bucs supporters’ eyes, despite the Serbian-born mentor not winning anything major in his coaching stint at the Soweto giants. This club can go for seasons without any silverware, as long as they are happy with the brand of football displayed by their team, Pirates supporters will boldly call themselves “Happy People” because they believe in their team playing a certain brand of football, which keeps them coming back to the stadium in search of more entertainment.

Just recently, Sundowns midfielder, Teboho Mokoena, thanked and praised Pirates for the tough and challenging encounter they gave the star-studded Sundowns team even though they won by 1-0 through a penalty. Mokoena further wished all the other teams could come to the party and give them just as much competition because Bucs didn’t make it easy for them, as they gave as much as they got. These are similar remarks to what coach Pitso Mosimane always said about Pirates, the same sentiment is shared by coach Rhulani Mokwena and his technical team. Surely there is something Pirates is doing right and, once again, football gods are not stupid and that’s why they are rewarding them. Truth be told, Pirates – on paper – is the only team, at the moment, that can challenge Sundowns. They will have to pay their school fees, i.e. inconsistency in their league campaign and failing to wrap games up, therefore dropping points or losing games they should have won, until they get it right. It is all part of the process and you need to look no further than the very same Sundowns to see what happens when you trust the process, encourage stability in the technical team and sign topquality players for the technical team.