Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro believes Zakhele Lepasa is mature enough to stay focused despite the recent hype and praise he has received.
Zakhele Lepasa has been in breath-taking form for Orlando Pirates in the new season following his return from a loan spell at SuperSport United.
The 26-year-old has scored nine goals in all competitions in seven matches in the 2023/24 campaign.
He even received a call-up to Bafana Bafana for the upcoming international friendly games against Namibia (09 September) and DR Congo (12 September). Both encounters will be played at Lepasa’s home ground at Orlando Stadium.
“He is a mature boy, and I think he is showing he is on a different stage of his career, and maturity is playing a big role,” said Riveiro during the MTN8 press conference on Thursday at the PSL offices in Johannesburg.
PIRATES COACH CONFIDENT LEPASA WILL NOT LET SUCCESS GET TO HIM
“The same way I always try to keep my feet on the ground, my team is pretty much the same as myself, and we don’t think about what we got the last time.
“We want to go to the next one to make sure that again we are the better team after the last whistle. There’s no exception to the ones [players] who are performing to their best level right now,” added the Pirates coach.
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Jose Riveiro will need all his players, including striker Lepasa, to be at their best when they travel to Stellenbosch in the first leg of their MTN8 semifinal at Athlone Stadium on Sunday at 15:00.
This is the very same team that beat the Soweto giants 1-0 in their DStv Premiership campaign opener.
“Everyone in the team is really focused on this tournament because we have good memories together, and we want to repeat it again with a good semifinal,” added Riveiro.
“As we have always said, we want to play in every final and to make it possible, we have to play well against Stellenbosch on Sunday.”