Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has given his assessment of Sebastian Pedersen’s debut in the MTN8 semi-final first leg against Sekhukhune United.
The Buccaneers secured a narrow 1-0 away win at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Saturday, with Deon Hotto scoring the decisive goal.
Pedersen, one of Pirates’ new signings in the current transfer window, was introduced in the 65th minute for his club debut.
Ouaddou was impressed by the Norwegian striker’s desire to get on the scoresheet, suggesting he could have found the back of the net had a suitable opportunity fallen his way.
The coach also highlighted several qualities Pedersen can bring to the squad, while acknowledging that the striker still needs to improve his fitness levels.
“I think he came with a lot of [desire] to score if he got a chance to open his goal-scoring account, he joined the fighting spirit of our team. You can see really that he’s clever,” said Ouaddou.
“He’s clever in the game, he’s going in the space that we want to find him. He’s able to find the deep. We’re able to find him in the pocket.
“His technique quality is very interesting. I’m sure that he’s going to really help the team. But like I said in the press conference, the basics in football, even if you have such quality, you need a good preparation.
“You need to be ready physically. We can see today that after 15 minutes, he was short physically. We are keeping working with him in order to bring him to the high level of the fitness that I want for my game model.
“Actually, he still needs to increase the physical work in order to be able to shine and to show his quality because he has quality.”