Lekgwathi – Why Riveiro Will Lead Pirates To More Trophies

Orlando Pirates legend Lucky Lekgwathi believes the Buccaneers have a squad that Jose Riveiro can lead to more silverware in his second season.

The Spaniard secured the MTN8 and Nedbank Cup in his debut campaign and finished runners-up in the DStv Premiership to Mamelodi Sundowns.

In the 2023/24 campaign, the Carling Cup and CAF Champions League have been added to the honours to fight for and their double-treble-winning captain admits he’s excited.

“I think they didn’t start well [in the league] but they will regroup, last time I spoke to the coach, he said he has a good team and I think they have a good team,” Lekgwathi told iDiski Times when asked if they can improve on last season.

“The previous seasons, my comment was that we didn’t have senior players coming to the party, but now I see players like [Tapelo] Xoki, [Nkosinathi] Sibisi, [Miguel] Timm – when Timm’s not there you can see [the difference].

“Like now they have some [exciting youngsters] and I feel the senior players will come to the party.”

The former Buccaneers captain admits with the quality of players available to Riveiro this season, he sees something similar to their glittering generation while there’s also an increased goal threat.

“I see a similar thing [as my generation with Klate], looking at the depth of the team and the players they have signed, I see the same, okay Timm isn’t there but [Thabang] Monare and [Ndabayithethwa] Ndlondlo are doing well, they have [Makhehlene] Makhaula, our team has the depth that can repeat where they left off last season,” he added.

“[Zakhele] Lepasa came back, you saw the boy at SuperSport and Bafana, he can score goals, last season it was just Kermit, [Terrence], and [Monnapule] Saleng, but now having Lepasa and Kermit [they can do well].”

Pirates, who have dropped four points in their opening three league games travel to Comoros this weekend to face Djabal in their first-leg preliminary round CAF Champions League clash.