Ouaddou: Orlando Pirates must deliver Champions League progress for fans

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou says the club owe their supporters a strong CAF Champions League campaign after missing out on the group stage last season.

Pirates are in a favourable position ahead of Friday’s second-leg meeting with African Stars, having beaten the Namibian champions 1-0 in the opening match of the second preliminary round in Gaborone last Saturday.

The return fixture will be played at Orlando Amstel Arena at 18:00, with Pirates aiming to complete the job and secure their place in the group stages.

“The boys are ready to come back to the Champions League, and we need to win this second half; and we will do everything in terms of commitment, in terms of organisation to go through to the group stages for our fans because last season it was one of the targets we didn’t reach,” said Ouaddou.

“So, I think we owe our fans to do well in this competition; we will do everything to make them happy. The players are ready and they know exactly what they have to do … there’s a lot of confidence, a lot of trust and that’s very important.”

The Buccaneers were knocked out at the same stage of last season’s competition by Congolese club FC Saint-Eloi Lupopo.

Ouaddou believes home advantage and a disciplined approach can help Pirates finish the tie, while he also highlighted the need for the squad to remain united.

“We are playing at home in front of our fans; so for me what’s the most important thing is to respect the plan and to be united because in this kind of competition, we need the whole team to be connected, to roar in the same sight together to reach the target,” he said.

The club have also confirmed that assistant coach Mandla Ncikazi has departed to become head coach of Golden Arrows.

Golden Arrows confirmed that Ncikazi would replace Pitso Dladla, while Pirates announced the move in a statement.

“Orlando Pirates confirms that assistant Coach Mandla Ncikazi will be leaving the club to take up the head coach position at a team in the Premier Soccer League,” the statement read.

The announcement came several hours after Ouaddou had said there was nothing untoward about Ncikazi’s absence from recent matches.

His comments followed reports that Ncikazi no longer wanted to work with the Moroccan coach.