Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has highlighted his side’s defensive shortcomings after their 3-2 defeat to Saudi Arabian giants Al Ittihad in a pre-season friendly.
The Buccaneers are currently in Spain, where they are continuing preparations for the 2026/27 campaign.
The loss to Al Ittihad was Pirates’ first defeat of the pre-season after a series of encouraging performances.
Despite taking positives from the display, Ouaddou admitted his team still has work to do at the back, with Pirates having conceded in every pre-season match they have played so far.
“I think the result is not the reflection of the game. I can say that I was really happy about the performance of the two teams. Because there is one team that played 60 minutes and the other one 30 minutes,” said Ouaddou, on SuperSport.
“And I think we started the game quite low in terms of intensity. Again, we conceded that goal. After we came back quickly.
“I think we had really interesting movements in the last third. In terms of chance creation. I think Pirates was spot on today.
“The way that we wanted to keep the ball. To be dominant with the ball, I think we were really spot on.
“And after, of course, we are in the preparation. We know that we still have to work some areas. And in that area, we need to find back our strength defensively because it’s an area where we’ve been very strong last season.
“And now, since every game, we’ve been conceding goals. So it’s an area that we have to strengthen.
“Overall, in terms of physicality, the team is coming very close to the intensity that we want. And in that area, I’m very happy.”