Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has shared his thoughts on Oswin Appollis following the Bafana Bafana international’s impressive debut for the club.
The Bafana Bafana star made his debut for Pirates at a sold-out Orlando Stadium in Soweto in a tie against his former side Polokwane City FC in the MTN8 quarter-final on Saturday afternoon.
Appollis joined Pirates from Rise and Shine in the current transfer window after months of being linked with the big three of SA football, including Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns.
In the opening match of the season, Pirates claimed a 2-0 victory over Polokwane City, with first-half goals from Appollis and Patrick Maswanganyi.
The highly-rated attacker, Appollis, posed a constant threat to Polokwane City and scored his first Pirates goal in the 13th minute. In the 35th minute, Appollis was fouled in the box, winning a penalty, which was converted by Maswanganyi.
WHAT PIRATES COACH OUADDOU SAID ABOUT APPOLLIS
After the outstanding performance, the 23-year-old bagged the Man-of-the-Match award, making a dream start to life at Pirates. However, his coach, Abdeslem Ouaddou, has revealed that Appollis still needs to attend tactical workshops to be a complete player.
“I played against Appollis when I was in my previous club [Marumo Gallants]. I know his qualities and I will not change him,” Ouaddou said.
“But as an ex-professional footballer and as a coach, I want to bring him to the highest level. And of course, we need to discipline him and give him some tactical workshops to do.
“He did it during the pre-season camp, and you can see that we don’t use him only for transitions, we use him for many tasks, and he did it well.
“We gave him 60 minutes as we didn’t want to burn him, but he can come between the lines, he can make runs from deep, and he can change sides. I want a dynamic player, not only to stand on one side and wait for the ball.”
RELATED STORY: Manqoba Mngqithi addresses Oswin Appollis interest, latest on Chiefs’ pursuit