Orlando Pirates vs Mamelodi Sundowns: A victory The Ghost will forever cherish

ARMCHAIR VIEW

HOPE SPRINGS eternal. That light in the tunnel continues to flicker. The championship dream lives on.

Orlando Pirates have played some massively important matches in the club’s history. In many of those, they have shown the kind of character that club chairman Irvin Khoza likes to refer to — ‘people have died for this club’. And those who have given their all to help the club defy the odds, have created legacies that will outlive them.

One immediately thinks of the Class of 1995 and their epic victory in Abidjan, when they overcame a 2-2 first-leg home draw to beat ASEC Mimosas 1-0 and win the CAF Champions Cup. The double-treble teams of Ruud Krol and Lucky Lekgwathi also did some special things.

Now, I am not in any way likening what José Riveiro and his team did in Sunday’s Betway Premiership clash with Mamelodi Sundowns to any of those triumphs. Far from it — for there is every reason to believe that the Buccaneers will once again play the bridesmaid’s role to the Brazilians in the league.

What Thapelo Xoki and his teammates did in beating Sundowns 2-1 will, however, linger in memory for years to come. Pirates needed to win this match — not only to temporarily stall Bafana ba Style’s procession towards an eighth successive title but also to show South African football that they have character.

Since their formation in 1937, Pirates have been renowned as a team of hard-working men, who never give up the fight; a team that’s only beaten when the final whistle has blown.

Riveiro’s team have done pretty well in his nearly three years in charge, having won knockout competitions on five occasions — three MTN8 titles and two Nedbank Cups. And they are on course for an unprecedented hat-trick of Nedbank Cup successes.

Yet, that resounding success has not been replicated in the league — the bread and butter of club football. In that arena, Pirates have flattered to deceive, playing second fiddle to Sundowns in the previous two seasons. Although they finished as runners-up, they never truly threatened Sundowns, who won the titles at a canter, while Riveiro’s men merely secured the consolation of a second Champions League qualifying spot.

This season was supposed to be the one in which Pirates seriously challenged Sundowns for honours. But with a campaign so uncharacteristically skewed — thanks to some bizarre events that led to two of their matches being abandoned — the competition has not been even, with Pirates trailing by four matches. That led to the surreal situation in which Sundowns went into Sunday’s match with an 18-point lead.

Pirates had to win to keep the championship race alive. They had to win to prove that they are genuine contenders. They had to win to show that they are not just cup specialists. They had to win to give The Ghost hope. They had to win to show that ours is not a one-team league. Damn, they had to win to gain sweet revenge for that 4-1 humiliation in the first round.

And win they did — Rele Mofokeng scoring two quickfire, runaway goals within the first five minutes of the match as Sundowns walked onto the pitch ‘without their brains’, to paraphrase what their coach Miguel Cardoso said in the TV interview afterwards.

Pirates looked hungrier. They looked more determined. They defended solidly. They punished Sundowns’ errors. They scored the goals and then hung on for dear life as Sundowns finally found their footing — figuratively and literally, as most of their players slipped and slid on the pitch as if they were wearing the wrong boots.

Whatever happens in the championship race, this is a match The Ghost will cherish. This is a match that will ensure this group of Pirates players lingers in memory for a long time. On an afternoon when they faced their biggest test of character, they delivered.

They are still a long way off catching Sundowns, with Pirates now on 43 points from 19 matches, while Sundowns have 58 from 23 outings. Win all their games in hand, and the Bucs will trail the Brazilians by just three points. Game on, then.

The reality, though, is that games in hand do not equal points in the bag. They still have it all to do. But at FNB Stadium on Sunday, Orlando Pirates gave The Ghost hope. They kept that light in the championship race tunnel shining. As someone said while we watched the match — that’s what South African football needs, ‘some competition of sorts for Mamelodi Sundowns’.