Orlando Pirates might have already won two knockout cups this season, but coach Abdeslam Ouaddou is determined to add the luster of the Nedbank Cup to the club’s rapidly expanding trophy room.
Pirates won the MTN8 and Carling Knockout earlier this season but now chase the biggest of the trio of annual knockout competitions, starting with Saturday’s first-round tie against Tshakhuma tsha Madzivhandila in Durban.
Given their quest for league honours, Ouaddou might be tempted to field a second-string lineup against the third-tier outfit from Venda, but over the weekend, the Pirates coach made it clear he is going all out for Nedbank Cup success.
“I want to tell you that we are going to approach the Nedbank Cup in the same way that we have approached all the competitions since the beginning of the season,” Ouaddou said emphatically.
“Every game that we are going to play, we play them to win every competition that we start. We start this competition to win. So yeah, it's really, really an important target for us.”
Pirates first have a key league game on Wednesday in Durban and are then staying in the city for Saturday’s cup game.
“We will have time to think about it because we have a Premiership game coming first, but what I can assure you is the Nedbank Cup is a competition that we are going to take seriously, and we will put the strongest team out to play,” he added.
Pirates have reached the last three Nedbank Cup finals, winning in 2023 and 2024, but losing to Chiefs in the decider in 2025.