Ouaddou opens up on CAF CL heartbreak & weighs in on Pirates’ response

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has conceded he is still hurting from the recent CAF Champions League exit.

The Sea Robbers were eliminated from the CAF inter-club competition by the Democratic Republic of Congo outfit St Eloi Lupopo. Despite recovering from a 3-0 first-leg loss in Lubumbashi to make it 3-3 in aggregate, the Chaminots advanced after winning the shootout.

The former Morocco international has explained how the Buccaneers were impacted by their failure to advance.

It is very difficult but…

“I think you bring on a table a subject that, of course, is very important for the club. It's very difficult because it was one of our targets, let's see what the future will say,” the ex-Fulham defender told the media.

“For now, we are focusing on the league, we are focusing on the rest of the competitions that we are trying to give our best to win.

“The lights are still green for the other competitions, and you can be sure that the players, the staff, will give 100% to try to reach that target, but of course we cannot hide this disappointment of the CAF because it was one of our target but let's believe in this one star, we don't know what happened,” he added.

Ouaddou happy with Bucs' response

After their exit from the CAF Champions League, Pirates have since delivered in the Premier Soccer League, where they are second on the table, just three points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, and are in the final of the Carling Knockout. 

“The cup games are always difficult; you can win those kinds of games in small details, and it's what we have done today, especially after playing three days before against Golden Arrows,” Ouaddou added.

“We played against a compact block, an aggressive team that didn't give us many spaces. We had to be patient and find the space behind the line, the back four, in order to score. 

“I think my players were brave; they had a lot of resilience today, and I have to congratulate them for that. I think the mission coming to Durban was to take three points against Golden Arrows and to qualify for the final of the Carling Cup,” Ouaddou concluded.