Ouaddou Expresses Anger Despite Pirates' Victory

Ouaddou Expresses Anger Despite Pirates' Victory
Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou expressed his frustration with his players despite their 3-0 victory over Milford FC in the first round of the Carling Knockout Cup at home on October 27, 2026. The defending champions scored three goals in the first half without conceding, allowing them to advance to the quarter-finals of the tournament. However, Ouaddou stated that the only positive aspect of the match was the win and the clean sheet.

Ouaddou criticized his players for being selfish in moments where they could have capitalized further and scored additional goals. The Moroccan coach emphasized that some players need to display more seriousness, or the team risks going without silverware this season.

"I think the only positive point is the win," said Ouaddou during an interview on SuperSport TV. "I think I will only retain this victory because I was not happy about how we played. We didn’t have the control. We had a lot of precipitation. We were selfish; a lot of players were selfish. Instead of giving the ball to a teammate to score when they were in a better position, they shot.

"A lot of wrong decision-making was evident. The positive point is these three goals and the clean sheet, but to be honest, if we want to dream bigger—when I say dream bigger, I mean to win the Betway Premiership and the CAF Champions League—then we need to improve.

"If we continue like that, we are going to win nothing, and we have to be honest. I was not happy with the game. The positive point is that we go to the next stage, but a lot of players need to wake up."

Ouaddou further expressed that it was unacceptable for Milford to have had more possession at times during the game, especially in their home ground.

“When you are playing such games and we are defending the title you need to be ready from the first minute because you can see a team like Milford can come here and have possession," he explained.

"I think I have to check the data, the stats but they cannot have more possession than you here. Even if we played three days before, and maybe we lacked freshness, we rotated the team.

"As a big club, Pirates, we need to wake up. I’m not here to nurse people.

"When we play for such a big brand and when we are ambitious to play on the continent, we need to wake up. When we signed the contract for Pirates, we have to play at another level, to be honest."