Farewell, Jose Riveiro: Five former Orlando Pirates coaches who ended up in North Africa

The Star

15-05-2025

Outgoing Orlando Pirates' coach Jose Riveiro has been tight-lipped on his next move, citing confidentiality as the main reason for not opening up at the moment.
However, rumours have been rife that he's put pen to paper on a two-year deal with African and Egyptian heavyweights Al Ahly.
And so, should that eventually be the case, he'll join a list of coaches who jumped the Sea Robbers' ship and landed in north Africa at some point.
That's why below, we go down memory lane and look at five coaches who had impressive stints at Pirates before ending up in North Africa...
Fadlu Davids (August 2021 - June 2022)
Davids was appointed as the co-coach of Pirates alongside Mandla Ncikazi when Josef Zinnbaber left the club.
The duo huffed and puffed at the helm, reaching the CAF Confederation Cup final in which they lost to Morocco based side RS Berkane in Nigeria.
That loss and sixth place finish resulted in Davids leaving the club to reunite with Zinnbauer, at Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia, and then in Morocco at Raja Casablanca, as an assistant.
Davids succeeded at Raja, winning the Botola Pro 1 League after an 'invincible' season and the Throne Cup, before he joined Simba as the head coach this season.
Josef Zinnbauer (December 2019 - July 2021)
Zinnabuer spent one-and-a-half seasons at Pirates, guiding the team to the MTN8 crown, back-to-back third-place finishes in the Premiership.
After leaving Pirates, he landed at Moscow in 2023 where he worked alongside Davids who was his assistant.
But it was last season at Raja in which the pair flourished. Zinnbauer is currently on the books of Algeria based side JS Kabylie after leaving Al-Wehda at the end of last year.
Rulani Mokwena (August 2017 - December 2019)
Mokwena realised a childhood dream when he joined Pirates as Milutin 'Micho' Sredojevic's assistant, having his paternal bloodline made a name for themselves at the club.
His two seasons, alongside Sredojevic, could only yield-back-to-back second place finishes in the league before Mokwena drowned as an interim coach late in 2019.
He eventually left Pirates during the breakthrough of Covid-19 in 2020, resurfacing at Mamelodi Sundowns in which he won trophies as an assistant, co-coach and head coach.
After being sacked by the club late last year, Mokwena joined Moroccan giants Wydad Casablanca this season. But he's already been released due to inconsistency.
Milutin 'Micho' Sredojevic (July 2017 - August 2019)
After Pirates disappointingly finished outside the Top 8 in 2017, Pirates recalled Sredojevic for his second spell at the club following his first stint in 2006 - 2007.
The Serbia born coach arrived at the club promising to wake up a sleeping giant as he was firstly a staunch Pirates supporter before a coach.
But his second spell didn't bear immediate effect as he could only lead the team to second place finishes, alongside Mokwena who had strong family ties with the ties.
Sredojevic, though, left after just one game into his third season, joining Egyptian giants Zamalek. But that was short-lived. He is currently club-less.
Ruud Krol (June 2008 - June 2011)
Krol spent three seasons at Pirates, winning a treble in his third and last campaign - the MTN8, Premiership, Nedbank Cup.
His departure caught many by surprise given all that he had achieved. But he wasn't without suitors, landing jobs in north Africa at CS Sfaxien, the Tunisia national team, Esperance, Raja, and Club Africain.