Pirates boss Ouaddou hails ‘bright future’ after Las Palmas win on Spain tour

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou believes the club’s future is “bright” after a youthful side defeated Las Palmas 1-0 in Spain, and has challenged his players to finish their pre-season tour with another victory against Neom SC on Friday.

The Buccaneers claimed a narrow win over the Spanish side in a friendly on Wednesday, and will round off their training camp with a final fixture against Saudi Arabian opponents Neom SC as they build towards the new Betway Premiership campaign.

Ouaddou, who has been using the tour to assess his entire squad, said he was encouraged both by the result against Las Palmas and by the overall progress made during their time in Spain.

“I’m very happy with the performance; the objective was to create chances and not to concede goals because we’ve been conceding since the beginning [of the tour] and what I said to the boys was we need to find our strength back as Orlando Pirates,” Ouaddou told the club’s media department.

Pirates eye strong finish to Spanish camp

The coach stressed that Friday’s contest against Neom SC carries additional significance as Pirates look to respond to their 3-2 defeat by Al-Ittihad earlier in the week.

“We still have another game, a tough one again. It will be a rematch for us because my team didn’t deserve to lose, and I will be happy if we can finish this camp with a victory,” he said.

Pirates were beaten 3-2 by Al-Ittihad on Tuesday, but Ouaddou insisted the scoreline did not reflect the balance of play.

“I was also happy about the performance against Al-Ittihad [where they lost 3-2 on Tuesday]. Indeed, it was 3-3 because we scored one goal that the referee refused,” he said.

Despite that setback, he described the tour as a valuable exercise in preparation and evaluation, particularly for the club’s emerging talent.

Backing for young Buccaneers

Ouaddou revealed that the line-up used against Las Palmas was the youngest he had fielded during the camp, and praised the way the less experienced players handled the challenge.

“Overall, I’m happy about the preparation of the boys, and it was a top performance against Las Palmas. We gave the opportunity to the youngsters. It was very important,” he said.

“This was the youngest team I could’ve put on during this camp, and they really responded well in terms of aggressiveness, in terms of organisation, [and] tactically, they were very clever. I think Orlando Pirates have a bright future with these young players.”

The Moroccan coach said the trip had allowed him to give every player an opportunity to impress, with his focus now turning to sharpening the team ahead of competitive action.

Focus shifts to Betway Premiership kick-off

Pirates have less than two weeks to complete their preparations before the Betway Premiership season begins.

The Buccaneers are scheduled to start their league campaign against Milford at Orlando Amstel Stadium on 1 August, and Ouaddou believes the work done in Spain has put them on the right trajectory.

Ouaddou said he was satisfied that the key objectives of the tour – improving defensive solidity while maintaining an attacking threat – had been met, particularly in the most recent outing where Pirates kept a clean sheet.

With the final fixture of their Spanish camp against Neom SC still to come, the coach made clear he wants to close out pre-season abroad with another positive result to reinforce the momentum built by his largely youthful squad.