Ouaddou ‘not surprised’ by Mbokazi stunner as Pirates CAFCL opponents are revealed

“I’m not surprised about his goal because he has a very, very strong shot,” said Ouaddou.

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou says he was not surprised by Mbekezeli Mbokazi’s scorcher that helped the Buccaneers reach the quarterfinals of the Carling Knockout this past weekend.

Mbokazi scored a wonderful goal for Pirates in the dying minutes of the match to secure a 1-0 win for Pirates against Siwelele FC in a last-16 round match played at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday. The goal is a worthy contender for the Goal of the Season.

Commenting on Mbokazi’s wonder goal, Ouaddou said he always knew that the young defender has the ability to score such goals because he showed at training that he could score such goals.

“I’m not surprised about his goal because he has a very, very strong shot, he shows it many times in training,” Ouaddou told the reporters after the game in Orlando.

“He took the decision to shoot from 30, 40 yards and showed his quality. It’s a guy who believes in himself. You can’t shoot from there if you don’t trust and believe in yourself, or don’t believe in your qualities.

“It’s a goal that delivered for the team, that gave happiness to all the players and the fans. You can see the danger can come from everywhere in our team, it’s not just the strikers or midfielders, the weapon can come from everywhere,” added Ouaddou.

The Moroccan coach will be hoping for more of the same when the Buccaneers resume their CAF Champions League campaign after the international break.

The Buccaneers will face Saint-Eloi Lupopo of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the second preliminary round of the CAF Champions League. Pirates reached this stage of the competition after beating Lioli of Lesotho 7-0 on aggregate in the first preliminary round.

Lupopo, on the other side, edged Al-Merrikh 1-0 on aggregate. They won 1-0 in the first leg and then held the Sudanese giants to a goalless draw in the second leg.

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“I’m happy for the fans, my boys, it give us the opportunity to the next stage after the FIFA break and they have to be honest too and I’m very proud of them since they are playing every three days, winning, keeping clean-sheet so it’s fantastic, we have to keep going,” commented Ouaddou.