Club captain Nkosinathi Sibisi has paid tribute to the “real Orlando Pirates fans” after leading the Buccaneers to the Betway Premiership title this past weekend.
The Buccaneers ended their 14-year wait for league glory with a 2-0 victory over Orbit College, sealing a historic treble that included the MTN8 and the Carling Knockout trophies.
The journey to the treble was not easy for Sibisi, who faced booing from a section of Pirates fans and received nasty comments on social media from fans who criticized him for everything that didn’t go the way they wanted before winning the league title.
‘It was a normal family feud’
Sibisi, however, says he didn’t take the booing to heart, saying he viewed it as a typical family feud.
“The real Pirates fans weren’t booing me, but it was a normal family feud. It’s like parents wanting their son to do better,” said Sibisi.
“I feel honoured to have lifted a major trophy with one of the top teams in South African football.
“I’m used to being a leader, but Pirates makes me feel special. Our success was down to our fans never giving up on us throughout the season.
“While they kept encouraging us, coach (Abdeslam) Ouaddou kept coming up with strategies that made us all better players,” added Sibisi before praising Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou for leading the team to glory this season.
Sibisi hails Pirates coach Ouaddou
“Top, top, human being first and foremost, but also a top coach. It’s been a pleasure working with him; he’s brought in elements that have helped us, and you can tell from the number of clean sheets we’ve kept and the number of goals we’ve scored,” commented Sibisi.
Under Ouaddou, Pirates scored 58 goals, conceded 12, and kept 21 clean sheets in 30 league games. The clean sheet honour belongs to Sipho Chaine, who was in goal in all those games that the Buccaneers kept clean sheets.
