This year's All Star Team preparations for the Carling Black Label Cup is set to be an unwelcome distraction for leading coaches Manqoba Mngqithi and Jose Riveiro.
Last season, Riveiro was voted as the head coach of the All Stars XI that played against and beat Carling Knockout champions, Stellenbosch, in an exhibition Black Label Cup tournament.
The revamped Black Label Cup tournament, in it's first season, was played during the Africa Cup of Nations break in January 2024 and the Spanish coach had plenty of time to take the game more seriously, like he was preparing his team, Orlando Pirates.
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However, with the tournament set to take place during the busy period on 21 December, Sundowns head coach Manqoba Mngqithi, who is currently leading the votes to coach the All Stars Team has suggested that if it was up to him, he would prefer not to be involved and give his full focus to Masandawana.
"I'll be lying if I say that's one of my biggest interests. I think I've got too much on my plate at the moment with the team that we have and the type of matches we're expected to play," Mngqithi said in an interview on Metro FM Sports.
"But if that's what everybody expects, I'll do it. But the truth of the matter is, one would have loved to focus all his attention on trying to make sure that this festive season gives us as many points as possible, both in the [CAF] Champions League and in the league," Mngqithi said.
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Riveiro is currently second in the votes and with The Buccaneers in the league title race and CAF Champions League group stages, the 'Spanish Guitar' may not give his attention as much as he did in January, if he is voted as the winning coach again.
"He came very prepared, I was like, 'Why is this man so serious?', because you're thinking All Stars, you don't have much time to prepare but the man is so prepared, he's got every detail about Stellenbsoch," Ramahlwe Mphahlele revealed after the All Stars Team beat Stellenbosch 2-1 in the previous edition.
