Orlando Pirates boss Ouaddou hails Lebone Seema as South Africa’s next star

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou believes defender Lebone Seema can become a leading figure in South African football after receiving his first Bafana Bafana call-up.

Seema was included in Pitso Mosimane’s first squad for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, with Ouaddou thanking the national team coach for recognising the defender’s progress.

The call-up came on a memorable night for Seema, who scored his second goal of the season as Orlando Pirates defeated Durban City 2-0 at the Orlando Amstel Arena.

Ouaddou said Seema’s selection was deserved, particularly because of his willingness to learn and respond to coaching.

“First of all I really congratulate him and all the other members of the team who’ve been called to the national team. I thank Pitso for calling him, it means that he was following his work since last season, he’s the future of South Africa. We have such talent in that position in South Africa,” Ouaddou said.

“I hope this call will give him the confidence to continue to work, to grow but I’m not surprised he’s somebody that has a good mentality. Professional, coachable, it’s very important for me because to improve you need to be coachable and you need to be able to understand and to listen.

“He started to know me now, sometimes I can be hard with him and last season I was really hard with him but for his good, for his performance.”

Seema’s emergence follows a standout previous campaign, when the former TS Galaxy defender was voted defender of the season in the Betway Premiership.

His inclusion in the squad for matches involving Guinea, Eritrea and Egypt in an international friendly also reflects the work he has put in since last season. Ouaddou believes Seema’s ability to contribute goals from defence will be an important asset for Mosimane and Bafana Bafana.

The Orlando Pirates coach said the club’s technical staff had focused on several areas of Seema’s game, including his distribution and his performance in one-on-one contests.

“We spoke a lot about the quality of his passes, the alternation of short pass, long passes, the duels and of course like you said he has a lot of progression. I’m really, really happy and our technical staff and the club are very happy about this call up,” Ouaddou added.

Seema’s progress has been supported by demanding sessions with Ouaddou, who said he had sometimes taken a hard line with the defender to help him improve.

The coach now expects the national-team experience to benefit both Seema and Orlando Pirates.

“I hope he is going to continue and to bring us the experience from the national team. Again, thanks to Pitso for seeing his qualities.”