Ouaddou praises Dansin after Pirates begin title defence with victory

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou praised Camren Dansin after the midfielder helped the defending champions start the 2026/27 Betway Premiership campaign with a 2-0 win over Milford FC, but warned his side must show greater control in possession.

Pirates scored once in each half at a sold-out Amstel Arena in Orlando on Saturday afternoon, with Oswin Appollis and Tshepang Moremi finding the net to secure an ideal opening-day result.

Despite the comfortable scoreline, Ouaddou felt his team had been affected by the pressure of beginning the season as champions. He said Pirates did not display their usual fluency, particularly when attempting to create opportunities in the final third.

“We started how we wanted in terms of intensity, in terms of suffocating the opponent, the guys did well because we scored the goal on the free-kick, which was our target, to score early – after that I describe that opening half, if we want to be more ambitious, we need more control in the heart of the game,” Ouaddou said.

Milford FC struggled to threaten the Pirates defence, although the visitors enjoyed spells of possession in front of the home side’s organised block.

“The opponent did not create chances, sometimes they had sequences of possesion but not dangerous, because this possesion, was in front of our team block, they were able to play but not dangerous, so no problem.

“I asked at half-time for my players to be more calm, more serenity on the ball, they confused the speed and pace of the ball and sometimes they were in a rush, we made too many mistakes rushing in our decision making.”

Ouaddou said his interval instructions helped Pirates settle after the break. The coach was particularly pleased with Dansin, who made a rare appearance in the starting line-up and was named Man of the Match.

The midfielder’s performance was one of the main positives for the Pirates manager, who hopes Dansin can maintain that level in the matches ahead.

“But we resolved this with more control in the second half, especially with fantastic Dansin, let’s hope he continues this performance and we created three or four chances, it was a game that could of finished four or five nil. So let’s not be too harsh on my players,” he continued.

Pirates’ victory was secured by their early pressure and their ability to add a second goal after half-time, although Ouaddou believes there is considerable room for improvement as the campaign develops.

He acknowledged that the expectation of winning their first match had contributed to the hurried decision-making seen during the opening 45 minutes. The coach now wants to see a calmer and more consistent approach to possession in the next fixture.

“I think there is this stress of winning, to do well in the opening game, hopefully the next game we will be more regular in possession nd control of the game. Three points, very important. If I have to come back last season, I think we did better but we have to continue.”

The result gives Orlando Pirates three points at the start of their title defence, while Ouaddou’s assessment underlined both the strength of their performance and the work still required to reach the level he expects.