Abdeslam Ouaddou began his tenure at the helm of Orlando Pirates on a positive note in what is expected to be a challenging campaign as the club sets its sights on a history-making season.
The Moroccan coach made quick work of Polokwane City in the MTN8 opening match, defeating them 2-0, thanks to goals from Oswin Appollis and Patrick Maswanganyi. Pirates will now face Mamelodi Sundowns in a two-legged semi-final clash.
The Bucanners showed that they mean business when they signed 12 top-rated players, including Appollis, Sipho Mbule, Sihle Nduli, Yanela Mbuthuma, Sinoxolo Kwayiba, Tshepang Moremi and Kamogelo Sebelebele, to name a few.
Nduli, Mbule, and Appollis were on the starting lineup and made a significant impact, with the latter winning the Man of the Match award after contributing to both goals.
With the Betway Premiership set to kick start soon, expectations are high for the Sea Robbers following the high-profile recruits deemed capable of competing with Mamelodi Sundowns, who have won the league title for the past eight seasons.
Pirates’ last league triumph was a double during the 2010/11 and 2011/12 while they have managed to finish in the second place for the past three seasons, but the gap has been wide between them and winners Sundowns.
The 46-year-old admitted that it will not be an easy season and made it clear that he has no intention of disappointing the fans.
“When you put your feet in such a big club, not only in South Africa but in the continent of course, the board don’t bring you here just to chill. I know the expectation of the fans, the board. I will do my best to reach these targets,” he said after the Polokwane City match.
Under Ouaddou’s predecessor, Jose Riveiro, the club managed to win five trophies, including three MTN8 and two Nedbank Cups. Ouaddou acknowledged that the expectations are high and assured Pirates’ faithful that he is up for the task, having been involved in football for over 30 years.
“I’m happy to do what I’m doing every day when I wake up, and to have the chance to play football a few years ago and now to be a coach to do what I love. I like to try to improve my players to try to bring my knowledge my competencies to the club,” Ouaddou continued.
“I know the ecosystem of football, I’ve been in football for 30 years, and we know there is a lot of pressure, but let’s say it’s positive pressure because I’ve been living with this pressure when I was a player.
“When you play in Old Trafford, when you played in Egypt against Morocco and Egypt it’s a derby 100 000, 125,000 people. Every weekend, it’s pressure, so we try to deal with this pressure, we grow with it, but we try to transform it into positive pressure.
“When I wake up in the morning, yeah, my first thought is ‘hey, we have to win. I don’t want to disappoint the fans of Orlando Pirates. There is a big, big expectation, and we want to be the best. We want to give the best for them [fans] to give the best for the club.
“It’s every morning when we go to training, even when I prepare my session with my staff, I want to design the best session for my players. I want to make the best training for my players. We call that excellence. When you come into such a big club, you have to think of excellence,” the coach concluded.