Ouaddou demands focus from Orlando Pirates after Champions League progress

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has told his players they must cut out showboating if they are to challenge seriously for the CAF Champions League after reaching the Second Preliminary Round.

The Buccaneers recovered from conceding first to beat Mauritius champions La Cure Waves 3-1 at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Saturday, securing a 3-1 aggregate win.

Following last Sunday’s goalless first leg in Port Louis, Pirates fell behind early in the return match. They responded within minutes to equalise before completing the comeback and sealing their progress.

The Betway Premiership champions will now meet reigning Namibian champions African Stars, with a place in the group stage at stake.

Ouaddou praised the response that carried his side through, but criticised their performance after half-time. He said the team lost its intensity and became more concerned with individual entertainment than completing the job.

“I’m not really happy about the second half. We dropped in terms of the rhythm. It’s not the rhythm that I was expecting about the second half,” Ouaddou told the media after the match.

“​Yes, we had more control, but we didn’t manage to score. I think we could have easily scored maybe three or four more goals.”

The coach was particularly frustrated by Pirates’ approach in the closing stages. He warned that a team with ambitions of winning continental football’s leading club competition could not allow personal flair to undermine its collective purpose.

“The rhythm dropped when we started not to be serious and when we started to make showboating,” he said.

“We have to understand that if we want to win the Champions League, if we want to be ambitious to go far, we really need to understand that football is going forward, football is scoring goals, football is taking chances, and I was really, really not happy about the second half.”

Ouaddou said his players would need to take that lesson into the tie against African Stars, which will provide a tougher examination.

“We have a second game now and I think we have to prepare and to be more serious, please, because to win the Champions League, and we have the ambition to win the Champions League, we don’t have to hide it,” he added.

“We must stop these things, because it doesn’t help the team, it doesn’t save nobody, it just saves the ego of the player who is doing these things and doesn’t help our team.”

Despite his irritation, Ouaddou was pleased with the way Pirates reacted to La Cure Waves’ early goal. He said the quick equaliser demonstrated the squad’s resilience and helped raise the tempo.

“I really liked the reaction of our players, the reaction quickly to score two or three minutes after was really important,” he explained.

“It proves that our team have resources, have character and have personality. I think the fact that we scored just behind this goal gave us power, energy to lift the rhythm of the game.”

The Moroccan coach was also encouraged by attacking moves developed in training, particularly Pirates’ ability to find a third player beyond the opposition’s back four.

However, with African Stars standing between them and the group stage, Ouaddou expects greater discipline and intensity across the full 90 minutes.

“What I want as a coach, I want goals, goals, goals, and that’s it, it’s what I want.”