Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has stated confidently that midfielder Sipho Mbule is one of the best players in South African football.
Mbule, 27, has had a tumultuous few seasons, from falling out of favour at Mamelodi Sundowns, to being sent back to the club from his loan at Sekhukhune United due to alleged disciplinary issues.
While known to be a talented footballer, like many others in the country, who has been susceptible to off the field issues, Pirates took a gamble on his talent upon the appointment of Ouaddou – and thus far, has paid off with aplomb, featuring in 10 out of their 12 games across all competitions.
That’s just five games off his appearance tally of the whole 2024/25 campaign for the midfielder who has also returned to the Bafana Bafana set-up under head coach Hugo Broos for their most recent 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
“Sipho had a good performance, it’s good for him to get time like that and what I like is that I see a boy smiling and enjoying his game and it’s what we want, he’s a fantastic player, he’s one of the best players in South African football,” Ouaddou said.
“And when I see him happy, I’m happy – so I can say it was a bit difficult for him in the first half against the low block – in very small spaces, but after we gave him an opportunity to play a little bit lower – when he had more space, so we saw the real Mbule and what he’s able to do.
“So, I’m very happy about his performance and in general the performance of all the boys.”
Mbule has been named in the preliminary national ream squad by Broos for the upcoming qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Rwanda set to be played in Durban and Mbombela next month.
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