Who is Abdeslam Ouaddou? All you need to know about the new Orlando Pirates coach

June 23, 2025, marked the dawn of a new era for Orlando Pirates. Moroccan specialist Abdeslam Ouaddou has officially replaced Jose Riveiro as the head coach of the team. Dailysports introduces you to the new manager of South Africa’s vice-champions.

English experience and even a European trophy winner

Let’s start with Ouaddou’s playing career. While not quite a superstar, he certainly wasn’t a journeyman either. He began his football journey at French club Nancy, where he made his professional debut on the big stage.

Three seasons across France’s top two divisions did not go unnoticed. Even though Nancy spent the 2000/2001 season in what’s now called Ligue 2, the 22-year-old defender was snapped up by English side Fulham for €3.3 million.

However, right after moving to Craven Cottage, he found it tough to cement a place in the Cottagers’ starting XI, managing only eight Premier League appearances in his debut season.

The following campaign was a little better, as he became a first-choice defender for Fulham in the now-defunct Intertoto Cup. Ouaddou and the Cottagers triumphed, earning a spot in the UEFA Cup. When the Moroccan was on the pitch, Fulham got past Croatian sides Hajduk and Dinamo Zagreb, but he missed the tie against Hertha Berlin, and the club’s European journey ended there.

A taste of Champions League and the only trophy of his career

In the summer of 2003, Ouaddou left Craven Cottage, first joining Rennes on loan, and a year later making the move permanent. He stayed with the French side until the summer of 2006, before heading to Greek giants Olympiacos.

He wasn’t a regular starter in Piraeus, but that’s where he reached the pinnacle of his career: his only trophy (the Greek championship) and his only 90 minutes in the Champions League—against Valencia, no less.

After leaving Olympiacos in the summer of 2007, Ouaddou’s days at the top level were over: he spent three more years in France with Valenciennes and Nancy, two and a half years in Qatar, and then a brief two-week return to Nancy. It was with his boyhood club that, on January 16, 2013, Ouaddou hung up his boots for good.

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National team success at home

Despite club setbacks, the defender was in demand in his homeland, even if 24 of his 58 international caps were in friendlies. It’s worth noting that in the 2000s and early 2010s—Ouaddou’s era—the Moroccan national team was a far cry from today’s global force.

Fans waited 20 long years for a World Cup appearance until 2018, but with Ouaddou in the squad, Morocco achieved its best Africa Cup of Nations result since 1976—finishing runners-up in 2004.

Six years preparing for the big job

After retiring in January 2013, Ouaddou spent a year and a half in footballing limbo before starting his coaching journey in the summer of 2014 at Nancy’s academy.

Just a year later, he was offered the assistant coach role for Nancy’s reserve team under Sebastien Hanriot, a position he held for four years. In 2018/19, he combined these duties with coaching at the academy.

Ouaddou left Nancy in the summer of 2019 and, six months later, joined the coaching staff of his former Valenciennes teammate Djamel Belmadi, then in charge of Algeria’s national team.

However, by the end of June he had to leave the national team, and by October 2020, Ouaddou landed his first head coach job back home with Moroccan club Mouloudia.

Setback in Morocco and first coaching medals in DR Congo

His managerial debut didn’t go to plan: in six matches at the helm, he suffered five defeats and managed just one draw. After the New Year of 2021, he was dismissed.

Things improved in the uniquely challenging Benin league, where he managed Loto-Popo from 2021 to 2023. In his final season, he finished just two points shy of the title.

January 2024 brought a new chapter—this time in DR Congo with the capital club Vita Club. In 18 matches, he led the team to five wins, seven draws, and six losses, but was sacked in September after a 0–2 CAF Confederation Cup defeat to... Stellenbosch.

South African experience and a triumph over his future club

Ironically, that defeat to a South African side put him on the local radar, and by March 2025, he was offered a job at Marumo Gallants.

In his very first match, he faced his future club—Orlando Pirates—and pulled off a shock 2–0 win. The Naturena side, however, got their revenge in the cup semi-final, edging out a 1–0 victory.

Across 12 matches in charge of Gallants, he suffered only three defeats. Besides the aforementioned loss to Riveiro’s side, he was beaten by Sekhukhune United and, once again, Stellenbosch.

South African football gives us a clearer picture of Ouaddou as a coach. At Marumo Gallants, he often deployed a 4-3-2-1 formation with two holding midfielders, but in a famous win over Kaizer Chiefs, he pushed one defensive midfielder higher, switching to a system with two central midfielders.

Is Ouaddou the right fit for Orlando Pirates? Tactically, yes—Jose Riveiro used a similar setup. But does he have enough experience to handle the pressure in South Africa, not to mention leading a team in the CAF Champions League? Only time will tell.