Ouaddou blasts 'nonsense' and 'circus' of Pirates' last 15 minutes against Magesi

A visibly incensed Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou slammed his players for a "circus" in the last 15 minutes of their 2-1 Carling Knockout quarterfinal win over Magesi FC on Tuesday. Pirates, who led 1-0 when the match entered the last 15 minutes of regulation time, showed too much on the ball with short and sometimes backward passes, and that did not go down well with Ouaddou. Despite their dominance in possession and territory in the closing stages as they booked a place in the semifinal stage, Pirates only produced two shots on target and that included the second goal by Evidence Makgopa in the 87th minute. Tshepang Moremi had put Pirates ahead in the 51st and Lehlogonolo Mokone pulled one back for Magesi in the 95th. Ouaddou said it was unfortunate that Bucs conceded the late goal by Mokone in optional time because the target was to keep a clean sheet. He said he respects South African football tradition and culture but he wants his players to go forward and score goals and not put on a show for entertainment purposes only. "I respect culture and tradition, I came to a fantastic country where people love football," he said. "South Africa is the land of football, but we have to find the right balance between doing our job and scoring goals. It's OK because it was a cup game, but in the league every goal is important at the end of the season. "You can make 20 to 30 passes to make a show and I am happy for that because I was a footballer and I like a show. But I want to go forward and finish actions. If you stay in the same position and make 30 passes in five square metres it is not interesting." Ouaddou urged his players to be more positive with the ball and play football that helps the team reach its targets for the season. "As a coach I want to attract the attention of my players that this is about scoring goals. When you have the possibilities to score goals, do it because at the end of the season every goal is going to count. "Don't joke, because we are not here for that. We are here to perform and get results and if somebody wants to enjoy the joke they can go and make five-a-side with colleagues. "We are not here to joke, we are here to reach targets. My big disappointment is the last 15 minutes and this is the first time I am addressing this. If we want to be more ambitious and go forward, we have to stop the nonsense of playing small passes. "If you want to do this, you can go to the circus. I am not here for a circus but I am here to improve my players, go forward and we have to stop this nonsense because we conceded a goal. "The target was to keep a clean sheet and score more goals. We have to improve on that aspect if we want to be ambitious."