Smiso Msomi
Orlando Pirates man Deon Hotto has revealed the club is going for the Betway Premiership as well as the CAF Champions League ahead of the 2024/2025 season.
The Buccaneers have clinched back-to-back MTN8 and Nedbank Cup titles in the past two seasons, asserting themselves as the ultimate cup team in the country over the past five years.
However, Hotto, 33, has raised the expectation level to the maximum as he opened up about Pirates’ main targets for the new season.
He told the media that he and his teammates feel as if they understand the tournament landscape pretty well now and have set themselves a different challenge, to push for the league and Champions League titles.
“To be honest, for us it’s not a big problem to defend the MTN8 and the Nedbank Cup, for us the major ones are the league and the Champions League, that’s it … We don’t have a big problem with the other two,” said Hotto.
“The talk for us (in pre-season) has been about (challenging for) the league and Champions League, so that’s what we want to go for because we know how to win those other domestic cups.”
The Sea Robbers have finished as runners-up to champions Mamelodi Sundowns two years in a row and despite the unassailable gap in points in those two seasons, Hotto believes Pirates have what it takes to topple the favourites.
“Yeah, most definitely. It’s a project also for the coach – he’s now in his third season, trying to get the traditions of the team, formations also. You can see how he’s feeling comfortable, more at home also,” he explained.
“He knows what to do in this upcoming season and we as players are there to back him and the technical staff, the staff members, are supporting him and us also. There’s pressure everywhere, it doesn’t matter where you are or where you play.”
The experienced Namibian, who has made 166 appearances for Pirates, also promised to take some of the pressure off coach Jose Riveiro, who is set to be the first coach to take charge of Pirates for three successive seasons since Ruud Krol.
“And it’s not to say we want to win the league for the coach, we want to win it for ourselves and the supporters, the chairman (Irvin Khoza) also.
“Pressure is always going to be there and the pressure we take within this coming season is the pressure of trying to be, from the first to the last game, to be on top of the table. It’s the pressure from ourselves, not supporters or the chairman, but as players we want to be on top from the first to the last game.”
The Buccaneers will kick-start their season with a blockbuster clash against SuperSport United in the MTN8 quarter-finals on Saturday.