Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder, Rivaldo Coetzee, has made a bold assertion regarding the Betway Premiership title race, particularly highlighting the challenges Orlando Pirates face as they attempt to catch up to Sundowns in the standings.
Coetzee believes that the key to winning the league lies in navigating the intense back-to-back fixtures that often arise, especially during a season when teams are struggling to make up ground on the leaders.
Read: Miguel Cardoso Insists Sundowns Deserved Victory Against Arrows
Currently, Sundowns lead the Premiership with 55 points, having played 21 games. In contrast, Pirates find themselves 16 points behind and with four games in hand, making their title challenge seem increasingly difficult.
“In this period, is where you win the league, when games are so back-to-back because the teams catching up. You know, you ready mentally, you say, ‘Look, at the gap’, okay, we have games in hand, but it’s not points,” Coetzee remarked on the Sundowns’ Pitchside podcast.
Similarly, the comments resonated with ex-Masandawana captain Hlompho Kekana, who is no stranger to the podcast. Kekana, who understands the pressure of having a backlog of games, shared a personal anecdote from his playing days to shed light on the challenges Pirates face.
“I remember when I was here after winning the (CAF) Champions League. The second season we, we lost the league to Wits. It was the same pressure that you (Coetzee) are speaking about where, we having five games in hand we thinking if we win win these games, we winning the league.
But it doesn’t work like that in a football match because when you playing catch up games, it means you have to squeeze another fixture in-between,” the tough tackling midfielder said.
“We lost to Maritzburg United, and we drew to Baroka and we drew to Platinum Stars at the time. In a space of five days, six days, and we thought, these are points, these are points, these are points. It doesn’t work like that”, he remarked.
Coetzee, who has struggled with injury and made only five league appearances this season, reflected on Sundowns’ growth under coach Miguel Cardoso.
Despite his limited playing time, Coetzee has been impressed with the transformation of Sundowns into a well-oiled, efficient unit.
He pointed out that while big matches are often nerve-wracking, it’s the “smaller” games—those against lower-ranked teams—that require the most focus and energy.
“For me, big games, I don’t even get nervous. There’s no nerves in the tunnel, walking on the pitch, nothing. But you get these Polokwane’s (Polokwane City), you get these guys. I’m telling you. You know it’s gonna be an effort.
You know, first of all, you have to match their effort. After that, you know, the football ability will come through. But you know, they gonna make you run, you gonna suffer,” Coetzee added.
This comes afer Masandawana dropped points against Golden Arrows, in what was Manqoba Mngqithi’s first fixture in charge of Abafana Bes’thende following his departure from Sundowns in December.
Looking ahead, Coetzee and his Sundowns teammates will turn their attention to the Nedbank Cup quarter-final, where they will face Sekhukhune United this weekend. Kick off at the Lucas Masterpieces Stadium is set for 20h00 on Saturday, 08 March.