Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has revealed the “good news” about facing African Stars in their next CAF Champions League match.
The Buccaneers booked their place in the next round after overcoming La Cure Waves of Mauritius 3-1 on aggregate.
African Stars, meanwhile, progressed after a 3-3 aggregate draw against Gabonese side Mangasport, advancing on the away-goals rule.
The Namibian club used Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium in Pretoria for the first round as they don’t have a CAF-approved venue in Namibia that meets international standards.
The Pirates coach believes the reduced travel will be particularly important given the team’s busy schedule, which includes Betway Premiership fixtures and short recovery periods between matches.
“The good news is we stay in South Africa [for both games], this is good news, not good news because we’re playing that team,” said Ouaddou.
“It’s another game, we have to respect all the opponents. For us to stay here is less kilometres to travel because to get to West Africa, it’s far and you still have to prepare for the league game of the next two, three days.
“About the preparations, we’re going to continue on how we prepare ourselves. Of course, our analysts department will give us some input and research about that team.
“And then for us as technical staff, we have to design the training and game plan to try and win that game and try to go into the group stages.
“That’s how we’re working, we’re respecting every game, we’re not taking easily any games.
“I usually say there’s no more small teams in football because if you don’t prepare well and you underestimate teams, you’ll be surprised.”
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