Orlando Pirates coach, Jose Riveiro, says their hard work the past two seasons is finally bearing fruit. Pirates are riding the crest of the wave after their best start ever in a Premier Soccer League (PSL) season.

The Soweto giants have a 100%  win record after seven matches. After their exploits in the CAF Champions League group stage earlier this week, Pirates will host Stellenbosch FC in another league encounter on Sunday afternoon.

Orlando Pirates are looking unstoppable this season. They lifted the season’s opening MNT-8 trophy for the third time in a row in October. On top of that, they are back in the CAF Champions League group stage for the first time since the 2019 season.

Of the four teams from sub-Saharan Africa, Pirates were the only team to register a win in North Africa earlier this week. They caused a big upset in Algiers on Tuesday evening, beating local champions CR Belouizdad in their opening CAF Champions League group match.

Pirates coach Jose Riveiro says the win on the road is a big confidence booster ahead of the match against Stellenbosch F.C.

Riveiro says, “Winning is very important. That’s the final product of everything we do everyday. We are doing everything we do in order to get a good result, and for us a good result is winning wherever we go, wherever we play. So, obviously, we are more than happy with the last performance, but again it’s gone. It was three, four days ago, now our focus is fully in the next one. We start from zero again.”

Preparation time was limited this week. Pirates only arrived back from Algiers on Thursday afternoon.

But Captain Innocent Maela says their good start to the season motivates them to achieve even more.

“Right now, we are enjoying the fruits of the hardwork we’ve been building in the past two seasons. Obviously, winning feels good ,the moral is always high, it gives you more confidence to improve and work even extra hard. But yeah again, our objective is to keep on improving, keep on getting better,” says Maela.

Bucs and Bafana Bafana defender Nkosinathi Sibisi says the players need to keep their feet firmly on the ground and not become complacent.

“It’s really, really positive going into the game on Sunday. We’ve had a great start, you know, into the league, but we can’t afford to be complacent as we’ve played seven games now. So, I think we have to keep going, keep pushing and keep getting the results. (They are) a very difficult side to play against. There’s quality players there, and it’s by no chance that they are in the CAF Confederation Cup, and we also played against them in the final.”

Twenty-eight-year-old defender Deano van Rooyen relishes the opportunity of facing his former team, Stellenbosch F.C, for the very first time. He spent nearly his entire playing career at the Winelands club after joining them in 2016.

“I’m here at Orlando Pirates, so it’s gonna be a nice moment, happy moment for me to play against my former team, but in the same respect, I am here at Orlando Pirates. So, we must continue the journey here for what I came for. I came here to represent Orlando Pirates,” he says.

Pirates cannot afford to underestimate Stellenbosch F.C – a team that beat them the last time they met in a league encounter at the Orlando Stadium.

After Sunday’s match against Stellies, Pirates will host Egyptian giants, Al Ahly, in another mouthwatering CAF Champions League group match in Soweto next Saturday.