Pirates will look to finish the job when the sides meet again in the second leg at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Friday.
Abdeslam Ouaddou coach of Orlando Pirates during the CAF Champions League 2026/27 2nd Preliminary Round 1st Leg match against African Stars at Botswana National Stadium in Gaborone on Saturday. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has warned his charges that they are only halfway towards achieving their objective of reaching the group stages of the CAF Champions League.
The Buccaneers edged African Stars of Namibia 1-0 in the second preliminary-round first leg away at the Botswana National Stadium on Saturday, with Tshepang Moremi scoring the winner in the second half to give the Buccaneers an advantage ahead of next Friday’s return leg at the Orlando Amstel Arena.
Speaking after the match, Ouaddou insisted that despite their advantage, the tie is not over yet.
“I cannot say we have one foot in the group stages; we still have an important second half there, and we will have to prepare for this to qualify for the group stages,” said Ouaddou after the game.
“It’s an important target for the club, the technical team and the players, so we’ll rest and prepare well so we can start that game to win it.”
Commenting on the game, Ouaddou said they expected a physical game against the Namibian champions.
“For us, we knew we’d have an advantage in the second half; if we keep strong, maybe at a later stage of the game, we can have a physical advantage.”
‘We don’t care about the weather’
With the game played in hot weather conditions in Botswana, Ouaddou revealed that they prepared the players well mentally for the heat.
“When we prepared for this game in the week, at the beginning of the week, our analysis department already told us that we will have 35 degrees, 36 degrees. So, we were prepared for that. I said to my boys that we are on a mission and soldiers who are going to the mission,” commented Ouaddou.
“We don’t care about the weather; it can be 40 degrees, it can be -10. We are going there to get results and to go through the next group stages.
“Mentally, we prepared the boys because, you know, when you play in the Champions League, you have to adapt to any condition, and it’s part of the development of the boys; it’s part of football.”
Pirates will look to finish the job when the sides meet again in the second leg at the Orlando Amstel Arena on Friday. The winner of this tie will qualify for the group stage of the CAF Champions League.
