Pirates coach Ouaddou slams Lupopo’s dark arts – ‘Beat the opponent by scoring, not cheating’

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Pirates coach Ouaddou slams Lupopo’s dark arts – ‘Beat the opponent by scoring, not cheating’

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has criticised the ill manners of St Eloi Lupopo during their two-legged CAF Champions League tie against his team.

Pirates suffered a painful exit from the Champions League after losing on post-match penalties, having clawed back a 3-0 first leg deficit for 3-3 on aggregate on Saturday.

However, the second leg at Orlando Stadium was ill-tempered with the Congolese team easily going down, fighting Pirates players while their technical bench officials were also under the skin of referees.

The match had two red cards, one for Pirates, and another one for the visitors, but there should have been more sending offs especially Saint Eloi Lupopo right-back Dieumerci Mukoko Amale, whose theatrics and confrontational approach went unpunished.

Ouaddou unimpressed by ‘cheating’ Congolese team

It was just a continuation of what happened in the first leg, when Pirates complained of bad treatment from their hosts who made their stay in Lubumbashi difficult before, during and after the game.

“I am not buying this behaviour. It is very important to show a good example,” an angry Ouaddou told the media.

“Football is a bridge between countries and people and we have the duty as professional players to show the example to all these young children that are dreaming to become professional football players.

“I will never teach such bad behaviour to my players. The answer should be on the pitch by football. Beating the opponent by game plan, scoring goals and not cheating.”

Should the Buccaneers have returned the favour?

Ouaddou was not impressed by how the Congolese team opted to gain a psychological advantage through the use of dark arts and he is grateful that Pirates did not return the favour.

“I do not want to comment on that because in the press conference I do not want to tell you the kind of treatment that was there [in DR Congo] because we had a game and you could easily say the coach was looking for excuses,” he added.

“But it was not the hospitality we were expecting and I thank the South African mentality, hospitality, how we welcome people in the stadium because football should be a show, party and fortunately some clubs understand the power of the image we give to the people.”

Pirates exited the competition at the preliminary round which is a huge disappointment after making the semi-final last season.

<!-- Author Start -->Joel Oliver<!-- Author End -->

Joel Oliver

Author

Joel Oliver is a seasoned multimedia sports journalist with a rich background in covering diverse football stories and events in South Africa and beyond.
His extensive coverage spans subjects touching on the PSL, with a focus on the Big Three (Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs & Mamelodi Sundowns), Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana.

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