Orlando Pirates will have a stab at writing MTN8 history when their 2024 campaign kicks off against Gauteng rivals SuperSport United at the Orlando Stadium tomorrow evening (kick-off 6pm).
Last season, defending champs Pirates won back-to-back titles – 2022 and 2023 – in a feat accomplished by several other PSL clubs over the years. Now, Pirates plan to go one better to become the first club to win three successive top-eight competitions.
Pirates are 12-time past winners of the competition, which is more than a half-century old, and did the double previously thrice. Apart from 2022 and 2023, the first double was in 1996 and 2000, and then again in 2010 and 2011. They remain the most successful team in the MTN8 era, having tasted success a record five times.
Tomorrow evening’s quarter-final opponents SuperSport have been a hard nut to crack in the past. It will be the two sides’ first meeting in the competition since the 2018 edition, when the Buccaneers bowed out in the first hurdle after going down in the penalty shootout, following a thrilling encounter that ended with two goals apiece.
Pirates’ coach José Riveiro is looking to a new signing, 23-year-old Gilberto (Miguel Vieira) to give his side the edge. He'll need Gilberto to make a difference because Riveiro has one win in four against SuperSport (two draws and one defeat) in two seasons. Gilberto was impressive at Pirates’ pre-season camp in Spain.
“I can tell you that he (Gilberto) settled in very well in the group. He’s a very open guy, and our group, in that sense, is special as well,” said Riveiro.
“There’s a lot of young players that have a lot of common things with Gilberto. We all are trying to help him to, first of all, express himself on the field.
“He will try to play soonest to the best of his capacity. At the same time, we are trying to help him feel comfortable in the group and that’s something that we did very well in my opinion.
“And his personality is fun, with the capacity to attract his mates, get their attention from the first day. He is a humble guy.
“We still have no complaints about his behaviour in the 3-4 weeks that he’s been around with us at camp. So, I think [he’s] going to be one of... our key players.”
Pirates have prepared well, but they face a formidable opponent in SuperSport.
“SuperSport are a very tough opponent, it’s a fact. We played them twice last season and we couldn’t beat them...
“We lost in Polokwane and managed to get a point in Orlando in the last game of the season, so we know it’s going to be a difficult game, but at the same time we know where we want to go,” said Riveiro.