Job Not Complete – Ouaddou Urges Focus Ahead Of Champions League Second Leg
Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou insists the job is far from finished despite securing a crucial 1-0 first-leg victory against Namibian side African Stars in the CAF Champions League preliminary round on Saturday.
Winger Tshepang Moremi—who had endured a quiet spell in recent weeks—slotted home the game’s only goal at the neutral Gaborone National Stadium in Botswana.
The Buccaneers host African Stars in the return fixture at Orlando Amstel Arena on Friday.
Ouaddou has made group-stage qualification a top priority for the season following last year’s painful second-preliminary-round exit to Congolese side Eloi Lupopo.
“I think we have succeeded in the first half of the two games, and we still have the second half in South Africa,” Ouaddou told the media after the match.
“I cannot say we have one foot in the group stages. We still have an important second half there, and we will have to prepare for this to qualify for the group stages.
“It’s an important target for the club, the technical team and the players, so we’ll rest and prepare well so we can start that game to win it.”
Playing in Gaborone presented harsh climatic conditions for the Soweto giants, but Ouaddou commended his technical staff for their meticulous preparation.
“When we prepared for this game during the week, at the beginning of the week, our analysis department had already told us that we would have temperatures of 35 or 36 degrees,” Ouaddou said.
“So, we were prepared for that. I said to my boys that we were on a mission and that we were soldiers going on the mission.
“We don’t care about the weather. It can be 40 degrees, it can be -10. We are going there to get results and to go through to the next group stages.
“Mentally, we prepared the boys because, you know, when you play in the Champions League, you have to adapt to any condition, and it’s part of the development of the boys; it’s part of football.”
A victory or draw for the Buccaneers on Friday will confirm their place in the CAF Champions League group stage.
