Orlando Pirates Secure Victory Against Las Palmas with Defensive Mastery
Orlando Pirates wanted answers in Spain. They got one of the most important on a cool night against Las Palmas: this team can still defend.
A 1-0 win over the Spanish side will not make headlines beyond their own fanbase, but for Abdeslam Ouaddou and his staff, it was exactly the kind of performance they have been demanding on this tour. Not pretty. Not expansive. But disciplined, stubborn and, crucially, clean at the back.
For a side that has leaked goals since the start of pre-season, that mattered more than the margin of victory.
Defensive resolve at last
From the outset, Pirates looked like a team with a point to prove without the ball. Lines were tighter, distances smaller, decisions sharper. Where there had been gaps on earlier stops of the tour, there was now organisation and a collective refusal to switch off.
Ouaddou has been driving that message home. He has pushed his players physically, extending them beyond the hour mark and demanding they stay switched on until the final whistle.
“The players have been over 60 minutes, we pushed them for 90 minutes and I’m very happy about the performance,” he said afterwards, satisfied that the work on the training ground had finally translated into a full match. The brief was simple and unforgiving: create chances, but above all, stop conceding.
They did exactly that. For the first time on this tour, the Buccaneers shut out their opponents and did so with a focus that had been missing in earlier games.
Mixed results, rising standards
This was Pirates’ fourth outing of pre-season: two wins, one draw, one defeat. On paper, it reads like a typical July or August schedule. In reality, the numbers don’t tell the full story.
Performance levels have climbed steadily as the squad adjusts to the demands of a new technical direction. The intensity has gone up. So has the complexity of the tactical instructions. The players are still adapting, but the curve is clearly upward.
The sense of progress was already there against Al Ittihad in the previous match, even if the scoreboard did not fully reflect it. Ouaddou was still thinking about that game when he faced the media, and with good reason.
“So yesterday, again, yesterday, I think I was very happy about the performance against Al Ittihad,” he recalled. The 3-3 draw still rankles. Pirates believe they had legitimately scored again, only for the referee to chalk it off. “Indeed, it was a 3-3 because we have scored one goal that the referee refused. It was not a handball, it was a chest from Tito.”
Those moments stick with a coach. They also become fuel.
“And what I said to the boys, we need to find back our strength because it’s what makes the strength of Orlando Pirates,” he added. The Las Palmas game, with its grit and control, felt like a step back towards that identity.
Young blood, big impact
The most striking element of the win, though, was not the clean sheet. It was who delivered the decisive punch.
Boitumelo Radiopane, thrown on from the bench, seized his chance. His late winner didn’t just settle the contest; it underlined the growing influence of the club’s younger core on this tour. One chance, one finish, one reminder that the pathway from prospect to match-winner is very much open.
Ouaddou leaned heavily into youth for this camp, and he did not hide his pride in how they responded.
“This team is the most youngest team that I could have put during this camp,” he said. “And they really responded very well in terms of aggressiveness, in terms of organisation, tactically. Tactically, they were very clever.”
Against seasoned European professionals, the youngsters did not just survive the tactical demands. They embraced them. They pressed on cue, held their shape and showed a maturity that belied their age.
“So I think Orlando Pirates have a bright future with these young players,” Ouaddou concluded, a clear nod to the direction the club is heading in. Radiopane’s winner felt like a glimpse of that future.
One more test, a hint of revenge
The Spanish tour is not over yet. One more fixture awaits, and it carries a sharper edge in the coach’s mind.
“We still have one game, a tough one again. The next game against Neom will be a revenge for us,” he said, leaving no doubt about the tone he wants to set. There is unfinished business on this trip, and the dressing room feels it.
The camp has been intense by design: hard training sessions, demanding opponents, controversial calls, and now a statement clean sheet. All of it is geared towards the grind of the Betway Premiership, where lapses are punished and momentum is everything.
Pirates will return to South Africa fitter, more organised and with a clearer sense of themselves. They have rediscovered their defensive edge, unearthed fresh belief in their youngsters and built a platform for what comes next.
Now the question is simple: can they turn a pre-season promise into a season-defining habit?
