Ricardo Lourenco may have never had an opportunity to prove himself in the Orlando Pirates first team, but there are special memories from the time he spent with the Buccaneers.
Soccer Laduma caught up with the 28-year-old to talk about the three years he spent with Pirates, where he captained the Diski Challenge side.
The years
I joined in 2016 and I was there until 2019, so it was three years. Overall, my time there was good. Obviously the first year-and-a-half was really nice. It was something very new and the spotlight which the club has and the pressure you had to perform under was quite cool. But like every other club, there's the good and the bad. It's not to say it's only at Pirates or only in South Africa. It's all over the world. I'd say there was good and bad, but overall I would say it was probably my best experience playing football.
How the move happened
I was actually playing for Maccabi. They used to play in the NFD (now Motsepe Foundation Championship). I had just come back from playing in Holland and I was looking for a place to train and I went to Maccabi. I was playing there for three months or so. Then, Pirates were scouting. It was during Easter and they wanted under-20 players to come to a Pirates tournament. They were going to select players to take overseas to England. I was like 'it just sounds like you guys just want us to go play in a tournament, so that we don't have an Easter holiday'. They chose the last 16 players and then we went overseas to play friendlies against QPR and I think Manchester United. When I got back, they offered me a contract. It sounds like it was a quick process, but it was over four months. It was completely unexpected. That's how I joined the club.
My first day at Pirates
I am not going to say I remember it clearly. But I remember we were training at Rand Stadium. Obviously, when you are in pre-season, you do two sessions a day. We arrived and it was like a sit down in the technical room where we used to do our analysis and stuff and have a chat and do the welcome. We had breakfast and after that we went down to prepare ourselves to go onto the pitch. We had lunch and chilled a bit and had another session. It was pretty much that for the first two months. Obviously, when you get there and put on the jersey for the first time...that I can remember. It was cool. When I signed for Pirates, it was for the MDC (Multichoice Diski Challenge). I was at some point registered to play in the PSL, but I don't think I was officially promoted. It was meant to (happen), but it didn't. But that's long ago. I am grateful and people wouldn't know who I am if it wasn't for Orlando Pirates. They gave me the platform to showcase my talent to the South African public. I have to show gratitude for that. Could it have been better? Yes, but there has to be some form of gratitude.
The best player I played with
Probably the most talented player I played with was Yanda Baliso. He plays in Iceland now. He is really talented and he is a good friend. During my time there, guys like Thabo Matlaba, Mpho Makola and Oupa Manyisa were some of the talented players in the first team. They were special together.
Best moment at Pirates
I guess being named captain of the MDC team was special. Responsibility came with that. I really enjoyed playing the games. That was the best part of being at Pirates and always that pressure of having to win. That's probably the best moments. I won't say there was one particular moment. I appreciated all the good. Through Pirates, I also got an opportunity to go into a Bafana Bafana camp.
Lowest moment
I don't know. It' a tough one to say. I guess the lowest moment is that you always got to prove yourself. I felt that in my case I had to do it more and I always saw the ones I played with got ahead of me when I also thought I had a shout. Not to say I deserved it more or they deserved it less...but just constantly being overlooked. After a certain time, it does get frustrating.
Why I left
I had a five year contract. It was a three year contract with a two year extension and the club did not wish to extend the contract. It was pretty much that.
