Like a wounded giant rising from the dust, Orlando Pirates turned early-season heartbreak into a domestic treble.
Crowned Betway Premiership champions following a 2-0 win over Orbit College FC at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday, the fact that the Buccaneers were unimpressive in their last two league games will now not count. They almost choked as they panted during the 0-0 draw with Durban City FC in their season penultimate tie last weekend. Coach Abdeslam Ouaddou’s men then profited from two own goals, handing them the league title in the final-day victory over Orbit.
After the CAF Champions League elimination at the preliminary rounds earlier in the season, doubts swirled around coach Abdeslam Ouaddou. They were dumped by FC Saint-Eloi Lupopo, who went on to anchor Group B, which also had Mamelodi Sundowns.
It was not just a setback, but humiliation. Critics unsheathed knives, questioning whether the former Morocco international had the capacity to carry the weight of an institution like the Buccaneers amid demands from their hard-to-please fans.
But from the ashes of that continental disappointment emerged a team that went on to claim a domestic treble. They first clinched the MTN8 before lifting the Carling Knockout Cup. They then delivered the ultimate prize in South African club football, the Betway Premiership title.
ABDESLAM OUADDOU: FROM A DOUBTED FIGURE TO THE ARCHITECT OF ORLANDO PIRATES’ PSL TITLE TRIUMPH
Taking over from Jose Riveiro before the start of this season, Ouaddou arrived at Pirates without a glowing track record of silverware, except the 2023/24 Congolese Cup he won with AS Vita Club.
A brief spell at Marumo Gallants last term and a stint as the Algeria national team assistant coach read on his coaching CV. Also appearing on it were jobs in Benin, DR Congo, at MC Oujda, plus a youth coach role at French side AS Nancy Lorraine.
“I’m a happy man today to bring joy to millions of people, and I think they deserve it. I was honoured to be chosen to be the coach of this fantastic club, and I gave my best,” Ouaddou said on SuperSport TV after Pirates wrapped up the PSL title and confirmed their treble on Saturday.
“It was not easy all the time. But we knew that it was football. I was saying to the people at the beginning of the season, ‘Just be patient.’ “People were saying that we drop points. Many teams drop points. But you can see that the three points we dropped were not three points but two.
“You have to be careful about the fans’ vision, which is absolutely to win, and the technician’s vision. The PSL is a very hard league.
“You can see that Durban City FC came to win last week [a fortnight ago]. Now you can see the integrity of the PSL. I think it was not the points we dropped, but just a fantastic team trying to win points against us, and my boys did very well.
“Credit to my boys, myself, technical staff, the analysts, medical staff and all the people at the club who are in the shadows. I think it’s a big achievement for them and a day that will stay in their memories.”
END OF AN ERA FOR MAMELODI SUNDOWNS
Saturday’s win over Orbit lifted Ouaddou’s men from position two to the top of the table. They sit with a point more than the dethroned champions, Sundowns. In ending a 14-year PSL title drought, the Buccaneers shattered Masandawana’s iron grip on this crown jewel. The dominance had stretched for eight successive years.
Saturday’s triumph ended the agony of Pirates ending the last three seasons as PSL bridesmaids to the Brazilians. It was a beautiful sight for The Ghost fans watching Lucky Lekgwathi, the last captain to lift the PSL title before Nkosinathi Sibisi, walk with the trophy at Mbombela before the crowning moment.
What followed were delirious scenes shared between players, technical staff, club management and the supporters, likely to reverberate through the black-and-white corners of Soweto for the next 12 months or beyond.
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