Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has appeared to have a new target following the team's elimination in the Carling Knockout on the weekend.
Pirates were defeated by PSL's new boys Magesi FC 3-2 on Saturday in front of their fans at Orlando Stadium, and are out of the competition which is proving to be elusive to them.
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Last season, the Buccaneers were knocked out of the competition in the quarter-finals by Richards Bay FC despite their dominance in other cup competitions since Riveiro's arrival at the club in 2022.
While admitting to a hectic schedule for the team, as the Soweto giants have also progressed to the group stages of the CAF Champions League, Riveiro says the most important domestic competition to aim for is the league where Mamelodi Sundowns have been dominant for several seasons.
"Being in a club like ours and having the responsibility to compete and to win in almost in every competition we play is a difficult task, but we are getting there, we are trying," said Riveiro, speaking to journalists after the Magesi match.
Read: Chiefs Thrash SSU To Advance In Carling Knockout
"It's a very difficult game to analyse. Whatever I say here right now is going to sound like an excuse, but the schedule is complicated. But it's because we have really good players, and that's why we are in every competition, not anymore after this defeat. We have a lot of players in the national teams, and that's the consequence. We are happy about that, but we need to again continue finding ways to perform in every competition. I'm not going to lie, if we have to rank the competitions, the league is the most important one, but when we go to these cups, we always go with the intention to offer good performances. Today (Saturday) was not that bad but again in four, five particular moments of the game we were not at the level and that was enough to take us out of the competition," the coach said.
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