Ouaddou backs Orlando Pirates players to express themselves after African Stars win

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou said his players were entitled to enjoy themselves after the club secured a place in the CAF Champions League group stages with a 5-0 aggregate victory over African Stars.

Pirates scored four times against the Namibian side and kept a clean sheet, prompting Ouaddou to encourage his team to continue attacking even after the result was effectively secured.

“Of course, the goals,” he told SABC Sport.

“Even at 4-0 I was pushing the guys to score the fifth one, the sixth one. My proudness is we scored four goals and we didn’t concede.”

The Orlando Pirates players were also given freedom to show their individual skills during the emphatic win.

“And the guys, when they score four goals they can enjoy. You can see, I didn’t say nothing – Phopho can climb on the ball, Masilela can make showboating, I don’t have any problem,” said Ouaddou.

“But you need to score four goals.”

Ouaddou’s comments came after Orlando Pirates completed a convincing victory over African Stars to progress to the next stage of the competition. The result means the club will now be involved in the CAF Champions League group-stage draw.

That draw is scheduled to take place in Cairo on Wednesday.

The Orlando Pirates coach’s priority was not only the attacking performance but also the clean sheet, which helped underline the scale of the team’s victory across the two legs.

His approval of the players’ showboating was therefore linked to their work in front of goal. Ouaddou made clear that expressing themselves was acceptable after scoring four times, while stressing that the team first had to deliver the required performance and result.

The Buccaneers will now await their opponents in the CAF Champions League group stages.