Now or never for Orlando Pirates to end Mamelodi Sundowns’ PSL reign

COMMENT

Surely it is now or never for Orlando Pirates to depose Mamelodi Sundowns as champions of the South African Premiership?

For an incredible eight seasons, the Buccaneers and the rest of the clubs in the country’s elite league have watched as the Brazilians dominated the domestic championship somewhat unchallenged. Pirates have been the closest serious contenders, yet even they were simply blown away by the Sundowns juggernaut. Close, though, is probably not really the right word given that Pirates finished a massive 20 points behind Miguel Cardoso’s men last season.

Although Sundowns are already top of the table with a third of the campaign played, there is reason for The Ghost to have some hope that their team will finally come right and be crowned champions for the first time since 2012.

Ahead of their trip to Loftus Versfeld, where they were smashed 4-1 last season, Pirates are sitting pretty in third spot with 18 points — just three behind the defending champions, who have played two matches more. Win on Saturday, and they surely shift the pressure to Sundowns.

Granted, matches in hand are never equal to points in the bag, and this much was proven in the previous campaign when the Buccaneers failed to catch up.

Yet, unlike last season, there is a semblance of solid depth to the squad coach Abdeslam Ouaddou is in charge of. All the Moroccan has to do is find a way to make it work. He seems yet to have found his core team, Ouaddou continuously chopping and changing his starting line-up.

Counting in Pirates’ favour in their quest for the championship is the fact that they no longer have the ‘distraction’ of continental football after being knocked out of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League at the weekend.

The defeat to the DRC’s St Eloi Lupopo after the tie ended 3-3 on aggregate was deeply disappointing for a team that reached the semi-final of Africa’s premier club knockout competition. And in a way, it has placed immense pressure on new coach Ouaddou to do well on the domestic front.

It goes without saying that the former Marumo Gallants coach’s best way to redeem himself is by delivering the league title. To do that, he has to make a huge statement of intent by going to Loftus and beating Sundowns.

A tall ask, no doubt. But Saturday’s clash is the true litmus test of Ouaddou and Pirates’ championship credentials.

Their ability to score the three goals they needed against Lupopo, having lost 3-0 in the first leg, was lauded by many as a sign they have character. And the fact that they followed that up by exacting sweet revenge on Magesi FC with a 2-1 win in the Carling Knockout quarter-final spoke volumes of their potential.

Sure, Ouaddou was livid that his players pussy-footed about with the ball instead of giving their opponents a thumping — and that’s a sign of his winning mentality. The challenge for him is to transfer it to his players and get them to play like champions.

Saturday provides them with the sternest test, and with Sundowns again occupied with continental assignments, the opportunity is there for Pirates to shine and end the Brazilians’ monopoly on the local game’s top title.

The sold-out affair at Loftus Versfeld could go a long way towards indicating the direction of the championship race. Will it point to a changing of the guard or show that the status quo will remain? We eagerly anticipate.