Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou says his side had opening game jitters in their 2-0 win over Milford FC and singled out one of their key performers for praise.
Pirates opened the 2026/27 campaign with a 2-0 win with goals in each half, from Oswin Appollis and Tshepang Moremi – it was a textbook way to open the season as the defending champions in front of a sold out Amstel Arena in Orlando this afternoon.
But Ouaddou was quick to point out the issues that needed to be ironed out going forward, saying it wasn’t their usual fluent football with control in the way they created chances in the final third.
“We started how we wanted in terms of intensity, in terms of suffocating the opponent, the guys did well because we scored the goal on the free-kick, which was our target, to score early – after that I describe that opening half, if we want to be more ambitious, we need more control in the heart of the game,” Ouaddou said.
“The opponent did not create chances, sometimes they had sequences of possesion but not dangerous, because this possesion, was in front of our team block, they were able to play but not dangerous, so no problem.
“I asked at half-time for my players to be more calm, more serenity on the ball, they confused the speed and pace of the ball and sometimes they were in a rush, we made too many mistakes rushing in our decision making.”
Ouaddou admits the half-time team talk played a major role in their improvement in the second half and was pleased by the display of Man of the Match performer Camren Dansin, who earned a rare start in the starting line-up.
“But we resolved this with more control in the second half, especially with fantastic Dansin, let’s hope he continues this performance and we created three or four chances, it was a game that could of finished four or five nil. So let’s not be too harsh on my players,” he continued.
“I think there is this stress of winning, to do well in the opening game, hopefully the next game we will be more regular in possession nd control of the game. Three points, very important. If I have to come back last season, I think we did better but we have to continue.”