‘I am still at the beginning’ — Ouaddou

Abdeslam Ouaddou feels it’s premature to judge his work as Orlando Pirates coach just yet, despite inspiring Bucs to their second cup final barely five months into the job.

Pirates, who’ve already bagged the MTN8 title this season, beat a resilient Richards Bay 1-0 in the Carling Knockout semifinals at Moses Mabhida Stadium to reach their second domestic cup final this term. Tshepang Moremi netted the only goal of the match, taking his tally for the season to eight across all competitions.

“I think it’s too soon to summarise my work here,” said Ouaddou, who replaced Jose Riveiro at the start of the season. “I will be judged at the end of the season...I am still at the beginning. In this job you need to be very humble. Our ambition is to deliver good performances in each and every game.”

Ouaddou lauded his players’ resilience against Bay and their general team spirit, saying their Durban mission was accomplished after beating Golden Arrows 3-1 at King Zwelithini Stadium in the league earlier in the week.

“I think my players were brave; they had a lot of resilience today, and I have to congratulate them for that,” he said. “I think the mission coming to Durban was to take three points against Golden Arrows and to qualify for the final of the Carling Cup, and we did that, so it’s a good week for us...let’s keep going like this, with this team spirit.

“I really appreciate the team spirit of the team, the organisation of our boys, and the tactical discipline. I think if we can continue like this, we can expect great things in the future.”

The Sea Robbers’ next game is against struggling Chippa United in the league at Orlando Stadium on November 25. Pirates are unbeaten in their last eight league games with seven wins and a draw.

Sowetan