Orlando Pirates Secure Statement Win Under Ouaddou
Orlando Pirates didn’t just beat Las Palmas. They passed an examination they’ve been failing all tour.
A 1-0 victory over the Spanish side might look routine on paper, another pre-season tick in the box, but for Abdeslam Ouaddou it meant something far more specific: control, concentration, and finally, a clean sheet.
For weeks, the new head coach has hammered away at one theme – tighten up. Pirates had been entertaining, open, and far too generous. Goals conceded had become a running thread through their Spanish camp. Against Las Palmas, that thread was cut.
“The players have been over 60 minutes, we pushed them for 90 minutes and I’m very happy about the performance,” Ouaddou said, the satisfaction obvious. The brief was simple, and he didn’t hide it. “The objective today was, of course, to create chances, and not to concede a goal, because we’ve been conceding goals since the beginning.”
This time, they didn’t.
Defensive edge at last
From the outset, Pirates carried a different edge. The shape was tighter, the distances between lines more disciplined, the pressing more coordinated. Where earlier on the tour they had wobbled late in games, here they stayed locked in for the full ninety.
The Buccaneers “finally managed to shut out their opponents,” as Ouaddou put it, and it wasn’t by accident. This was the product of a technical team that has clearly made defensive structure the non‑negotiable of this camp. The lapses that had crept into previous fixtures were replaced by a collective focus that held even as legs tired and Las Palmas pushed.
This match was the fourth of their pre-season schedule: two wins, one draw, one defeat. The numbers are mixed, the direction is not. Performances are climbing, the group starting to understand what the new regime expects from them without the ball as much as with it.
Just 24 hours earlier, Pirates had been involved in a wild 3-3 against Al Ittihad, a game that still rankled with their coach.
“So yesterday, again, yesterday, I think I was very happy about the performance against Al Ittihad,” he reflected. The scoreline told one story, Ouaddou another. “Indeed, it was a 3-3 because we have scored one goal that the referee refused. It was not a handball, it was a chest from Tito.”
That moment fed into his message to the squad. Decisions go against you. Shape and mentality cannot.
“And what I said to the boys, we need to find back our strength because it’s what makes the strength of Orlando Pirates.”
Radiopane’s moment, the kids’ statement
If the clean sheet soothed the coach, the identity of the match-winner will have delighted the club.
Boitumelo Radiopane, sent on from the bench, seized his chance with a late, decisive strike. It was the kind of contribution every young forward dreams of in pre-season: not just minutes, but impact.
The goal capped a performance that underlined another key strand of this camp – youth. Ouaddou did not hide that this was as fresh-faced a group as he could field on tour.
“This team is the most youngest team that I could have put during this camp,” he said. The risk? Inexperience. The reward? Energy, fearlessness, and a squad that suddenly looks deeper than it did a month ago.
They didn’t just run. They thought. “They really responded very well in terms of aggressiveness, in terms of organisation, tactically. Tactically, they were very clever.”
Against seasoned European professionals, the youngsters held their own within a demanding structure, following complex instructions and executing them with a maturity that belied their age.
“So I think Orlando Pirates have a bright future with these young players,” Ouaddou concluded, and on this evidence it was more observation than optimism.
One more test, one more score to settle
The Spanish tour is not done. One game remains, and it carries a personal edge for this group.
“We still have one game, a tough one again. The next game against Neom will be a revenge for us,” Ouaddou said. The word “revenge” was deliberate. This is not a team coasting towards the airport; it is one that feels it still has a point to prove before flying back to South Africa.
Inside the camp, there is a sense of unfinished business. The heavy training blocks, the tactical drills, the emotional swings of controversial refereeing calls and late goals – all of it has been building towards a side that can withstand the grind of the Betway Premiership.
The aim now is clear. Finish the tour with the same intensity with which they finally defended against Las Palmas.
“And I will be happy if we can finish this camp with a victory,” Ouaddou said.
One more match to turn a promising pre-season into a convincing one. One more chance for Pirates to show that this new-found steel is not a one-off, but the foundation of what comes next.
