Orlando Pirates boss Abdeslam Ouaddou targets positive result against African Stars

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou says his side must return from Botswana with a positive result when they face African Stars in the second round of the CAF Champions League preliminary qualifiers.

The Buccaneers travel to Gaborone for Saturday’s first leg against the Namibian Premier League champions, before welcoming African Stars to Orlando Stadium for the return fixture next Friday. Pirates are aiming to secure a place in the competition’s group stages.

The South African club were eliminated at the same stage last season by DR Congo side St Eloi Lupopo, an outcome Ouaddou believes has provided an important lesson ahead of this campaign.

“It will be important to come back with a positive result because really it’s a big challenge for us. This year we need to be in the group stages. Last season, unfortunately, we were knocked out by Lupopo,” Ouaddou said.

“It’s a big, big target this season. We took a lesson from last season, it will be important to come back with a very good result, so when we return home, we have an opportunity to qualify for the second game.”

Pirates have already begun preparing for African Stars, although Ouaddou acknowledged that assessing their opponents has been difficult because the Namibian club have not yet started their domestic league campaign.

Pirates gather information on opponents

The Orlando Pirates technical team has obtained footage and other information on African Stars, but Ouaddou said further work would be carried out before the first leg.

“It’s difficult [to study them], they didn’t start the league, but we have some footage. We already started to study the team, we have some information, and we have to go a little bit deeper in the next days,” he added.

Pirates will look to turn that preparation into a strong display in Gaborone and gain an advantage before the decisive second leg in Soweto next Friday.

With last season’s early exit still providing added motivation, Ouaddou’s side know that avoiding defeat – and ideally securing a win – away from home would strengthen their chances of reaching the CAF Champions League group stages.