Orlando Pirates pulled off a surprise when they appointed Moroccan Abdeslam Ouaddou as their new coach.
Ouaddou was the man handed the reins to the replace Jose Riveiro, who departed to Al Ahly, beating a number big names that had been linked to the role such as Rulani Mokwena, Pitso Mosimane and club legend Benni McCarthy.
The 46-year-old now has the task of continuing what Riveiro had built and make it even better but unlike the Spanish coach, Ouaddou is not new to South Africa.
Who is Abdeslam Ouaddou?
Abdeslam Ouaddou is a former Moroccan international, who won 80 caps for the Atlas Lions, playing as a centre-back, and has vast experience as a player, having played in Europe and the Middle East.
He honed his skills in France at AS Nancy, where he would have three stints, and also featured for Rennes and Valenciennes, in between a four-year stint at Fulham in England.
Ouaddou had a brief stint in Greece with Olympiacos and later in Qatar with Al Duhail and Qatar SC.
Abdeslam Ouaddou’s Coaching Career
After hanging his boots, Ouaddou took time before venturing into coaching and he started with a controversial move, when he opted to become one of Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi’s assistants in 2020.
That decision was not received well back home as he was accused of betrayal, owing to the political tensions between Morocco and Algeria, and he would later return home after five months to coach Mouloudia d'Oujda.
The Morocco-French national, would have a fourth-month stint at d'Oujda, before taking over at Benin's Loto-Popo FC, where he had his longest period, coaching the team for two years.
A nine-month stint at Congolese side AS Vita would follow for Ouaddou and it was after this that he moved to South Africa.
Abdeslam Ouaddou’s South African Adventure
In February 2025, Marumo Gallants appointed Ouaddou as their new coach to lead them to PSL safety after cutting ties with Dan Malesela.
He did just that in his four-month stay, winning five, drawing four and losing three of his 12 matches in charge as the club finished 10th with 32 points, same as Kaizer Chiefs.
Stunning Wins Over Soweto Giants
Pirates fans will be happy to have the tactician on their side as he played a part in denting their title chase last season, when he masterminded a 2-0 victory for Gallants against the Buccaneers in March, and although he lost the Nedbank Cup semi-final 1-0 to Riveiro’s men, he inflicted pain on Kaizer Chiefs when his team stunned Amakhosi 2-1 in April.
What is Abdeslam Ouaddou’s Philosophy
Pirates fans can expect a 4-2-3-1 system as it is what is favoured by the tactician, who described himself as a coach who likes to dominate, in previous interviews.
“As a coach, I want to implement a game model that suits the profile of my players. My idea is to be dominant; I like the positional game, I like to build from the goalkeeper and to progress in order to imbalance the opponent,” he said on Marawa Sports Worldwide in May, just before he resigned from Gallants.
“To find a free space, to quickly reach the box and score goals with a lot of numbers in the box. There are two phases in football, how to attack and how to defend.
“When you do not have the ball, you have to recover it but not with one or two players, it is what happens when I analyse Marumo Gallants in the last seven matches. When they run to recover the ball with three players it is not possible.”
