Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou couldn’t hold back his disappointment after watching his side eliminated from the Nedbank Cup by Casric Stars.
After being held to a goalless draw at the Orlando Amstel Arena after extra-time, it was the Motsepe Foundation Championship side who emerged victorious with a 5-4 penalty shootout win.
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The Buccaneers were losing Nedbank Cup finalists last season following their 2-1 loss to Kaizer Chiefs – but became the second big-name exit from this season’s competition after the elimination of Mamelodi Sundowns by TS Galaxy earlier on Saturday.
Reflecting on the encounter, having created enough chances to win the match in regulation time, a downbeat Ouaddou said on SuperSport: “It’s a big disappointment to be eliminated from the competition, something that was important for the players and the fans.
“We wanted to suffocate them quickly in the first half and create chances, unfortunately, it’s been the same story as the previous game, it’s important to be efficient, especially in the cups.
“When you miss such chances, like the first half, you can give confidence to the opponent and I think they defended well and did their job. We’ve tried to bring more in the second half, creativity, to imbalance Casric, we created some chances.
“For me, we could have finished the game earlier, but then it comes the penalties, which we worked on and prepared for in the week as it was a probability, but it’s like that, we lost and congratulations to Casric Stars FC, their players and technical staff.”
Pirates will now turn their attentions to a massive Betway Premiership encounter with rivals Kaizer Chiefs at the FNB Stadium next weekend.