Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has outlined how the club must strengthen the squad if they want to compete in the CAF Champions League.
The French-Moroccan coach guided the team to a treble—the MTN8, Carling Knockout Cup, and Betway Premiership—in his debut season with the Sea Robbers.
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However, the Buccaneers suffered an early elimination at the hands of DR Congo outfit Lupopo in the second preliminary round of the competition, failing to qualify for the group stages.
Ouaddou feels Pirates must reinforce the team with physically strong players if they want to compete effectively in Africa, noting that physical presence was one of their weak points against Lupopo.
“You know the necessity to have this physicality in the team,” said Ouaddou during the Extra Time on SuperSport TV.
“We have some good qualities, but I think that we will have to reinforce the team in terms of physicality.
“But it’s really important to compete against other [physically strong] clubs. You saw against Lupopo, for example, at the beginning of the season.
“It’s completely the type of football that’s being played now. And you need to match this kind of games when you’re playing CAF.”
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