Orlando Pirates Secure Clean Sheet Against Las Palmas

Orlando Pirates have been searching for a clean sheet all tour. In Spain, against Las Palmas, they finally found one – and with it, a performance that looked a lot more like the team Abdeslam Ouaddou has been trying to build.

A 1-0 win in pre-season does not usually stir much emotion. This one did. It was hard-earned, tactical, and, crucially for a side that has been leaking goals, controlled.

Defensive resolve at last

From the outset, Pirates looked intent on tightening the screws at the back. The tour had exposed their fragility, and Ouaddou made no secret that defensive discipline sat at the top of his to-do list.

This time, the message stuck.

The Buccaneers stayed compact, refused to be dragged out of shape and, for long spells, forced Las Palmas into low-percentage efforts. Concentration, so often an issue in earlier games, held for the full ninety.

“The players have been over 60 minutes, we pushed them for 90 minutes and I’m very happy about the performance,” Ouaddou said, underlining the physical and mental shift he demanded. “The objective today was, of course, to create chances, and not to concede a goal, because we’ve been conceding goals since the beginning.”

The clean sheet was more than a statistic. It was a statement that the technical team’s work on structure and discipline is starting to show.

A tour shaping a team

This was Pirates’ fourth outing of the pre-season: two wins, one draw, one defeat. The results read mixed; the performances tell a different story.

Each match has nudged the level upward as the squad adapts to Ouaddou’s demands. The coach, still bristling from moments he felt went against his side, pointed back to the 3-3 draw with Al Ittihad as another turning point.

“So yesterday, again, yesterday, I think I was very happy about the performance against Al Ittihad,” he reflected. “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.”

That sense of injustice has not faded. Instead, it has been repurposed.

“And what I said to the boys, we need to find back our strength because it’s what makes the strength of Orlando Pirates.”

The message is clear: the identity of this team is non-negotiable. Aggression, organisation, belief – the staples of Pirates at their best – must return and stay.

Radiopane delivers, the kids respond

The decisive moment against Las Palmas came late, off the bench, and from one of the younger faces in the camp. Boitumelo Radiopane stepped on, found his chance, and finished with the kind of composure that wins tight games.

It was the sort of contribution that makes a coach lean forward on the touchline. Not just because of the goal, but because of what it represents.

One of the most striking features of this tour has been Ouaddou’s willingness to trust youth. Against Las Palmas, that faith was rewarded.

“This team is the most youngest team that I could have put during this camp,” he explained. “And they really responded very well in terms of aggressiveness, in terms of organisation, tactically. Tactically, they were very clever.”

The praise did not sound like polite pre-season politicking. It sounded like conviction.

“So I think Orlando Pirates have a bright future with these young players,” he added, looking beyond Spain, beyond July, to a season where several of these prospects may no longer be just “camp players” but genuine options.

One more test, and a hint of revenge

Pirates now move towards the final fixture of their Spanish tour, a closing test that has taken on an extra edge inside the camp. The sessions have been intense, the opposition demanding, all with one target in mind: to be ready for the grind of the Betway Premiership.

There is, as Ouaddou admits, unfinished business.

“We still have one game, a tough one again. The next game against Neom will be a revenge for us,” he said. “And I will be happy if we can finish this camp with a victory.”

A clean sheet, a late winner from a young striker, a coach seeing his ideas take root. If this is what Orlando Pirates look like in July, what might they become when the real season begins?