Pirates target maximum points against Namibia’s African Stars

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou says reaching the CAF Champions League group stages is a major objective for the Buccaneers this season.

Ouaddou said this as Pirates prepare to face Namibia’s African Stars in the second qualifying round at the Botswana National Stadium in Gaborone on Saturday. Stars were forced to host Pirates at the neutral venue after CAF said there are no suitable venues in Namibia to play this match.

The Buccaneers failed to reach the group stages of this competition last season after they were eliminated by Saint-Éloi Lupopo. Ouaddou has stressed the importance of securing a positive result away from home.

“It will be important to come back with a positive result,” Ouaddou said earlier this week. “It’s a big year, so we need to get back into the group stage. Last season, we were knocked out by St. Eloi Lupopo, so this is a major target.
“We learned our lesson from last season. It’s crucial to return home with a solid result to position ourselves well for the next round.”

African Stars are somewhat of a closed book to Pirates as the Namibian league is yet to get underway. Ouaddou, however, has confirmed that his technical team has gathered some information on their opponents.

“It’s difficult, you know, because they didn’t start the league, but at least we’ll be able to have some footage, and we already started to study the team,” he said.

“We have some information, and we have to go a little bit deeper tomorrow and the day after tomorrow,” concluded Ouaddou.