Pirates owe fans CAF excellence – Ouaddou

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Opens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowEnter fullscreen mode displaying this image.ExpandOrlando Pirates players during the CAF Champions League 2026/27 2nd Preliminary Round 2nd Leg Orlando Pirates Training at Orlando Amstel Arena in Soweto on 22 October 2026 ©Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix Story audio is generated using AI

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou feels they owe their fans a good run in the CAF Champions League this season after failing to reach the group phase last term.

Pirates have one leg in the group stages after beating Namibian champions African Stars 1-0 in the first leg of the tournament’s second preliminary round in Gaborone last Saturday.

The second leg is billed for Orlando Amstel Arena on Friday (6pm). “The boys are ready to come back to the Champions League, and we need to win this second half; and we will do everything in terms of commitment, in terms of organisation to go through to the group stages for our fans because last season it was one of the targets we didn’t reach,” said Ouaddou.

“So, I think we owe our fans to do well in this competition; we will do everything to make them happy. The players are ready and they know exactly what they have to do … there’s a lot of confidence, a lot of trust and that’s very important.”

Last season, the Bucanneers were eliminated by Congolese side FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo in the same second preliminary round.

However, the Moroccan mentor sounded confident that they will finish off the job at Orlando Amstel Arena, highlighting the importance of sticking to the game plan, while also stressing that unity was key.

“We are playing at home in front of our fans; so for me what’s the most important thing is to respect the plan and to be united because in this kind of competition, we need the whole team to be connected, to roar in the same sight together to reach the target,” Ouaddou said.

Meanwhile, Pirates have confirmed that assistant coach Mandla Ncikazi has left the club to join Golden Arrows. Arrows confirmed Pitso Dladla would be replaced by Ncikazi.

“Orlando Pirates confirms that assistant Coach Mandla Ncikazi will be leaving the club to take up the head coach position at a team in the Premier Soccer League,” Pirates’ statement read.

The statement came a few hours after the club’s coach Abdeslam Ouaddou had insisted that there was nothing untoward about Ncikazi’s absence in recent games amid reports that he no longer wanted to work with him.

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