Africa-Press – South-Africa. Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou smiled when he was reminded of the psychological advantage Yanela Mbuthuma and Nkosikhona Ndaba may give Orlando Pirates against former club Richards Bay FC.
They meet in the semifinal of the Carling Knockout Cup at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday.
Both players come to this game in good form after finding the back of the net, with Mbuthuma scoring a brace, and to add on, Ndaba’s opener in Bucs’ 3-1 victory over Golden Arrows in a Betway Premiership match at King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi on Wednesday.Facing the media this week and asked about the prospect of unleashing striker Mbuthuma and left back Ndaba against their former club, Ouaddou agreed they can give Pirates an advantage.
“It’s a good question. When you are a coach, you have to know the [history] of your players, and you have to play with that.
“I know they come from there, and we have to use this psychological [advantage]. It’s an opportunity for them to show what they’re able to do, to show that they’ve improved as well.
“But you have to give credit to their former club. They did a good job, and they showed it yesterday [Wednesday against Arrows]. I was happy about their performance.
“They have to keep believing in their competencies, but there’s still a lot of work to do if they’re to reach the highest level.”
The Bucs coach insisted the Soweto giants have ambitions of keeping the tag of being cup kings in South Africa, having won seven domestic cup finals in the past four seasons after bagging the past four MTN8 titles and three Nedbank Cups from 2022 to 2024.“For us it will be important to be ambitious. Of course we’ve won the first cup [MTN, for the fourth time in a row this season].
“But all my players are ambitious; the club is ambitious to play that game on Saturday and go to the final,” said Ouaddou.
“But we have to give respect to the opponents. For Richards Bay, if they reach the final, it means it’s a quality team with quality players.
“You can speak about tactics and technique, but you have to bring a bit more to the table. You play cup matches with heart and spirit, so hopefully we’ll have all these factors in the semifinal.
“We’re expecting a strong team spirit from the opponents, we know their players have experience, especially one [Gabadhino Mhango] I had last season in my previous club [Marumo Gallants].
“He will aim to have the best performance against Pirates. We’re used to it; we’ll try to build our mental strength.”
Durban will be buzzing throughout the weekend, as it will also host the second semifinal between Arrows and Gallants at King Zwelithini Stadium on Sunday.
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