Ouaddou hails Mabasa’s “clean heart” as the striker nets his 50th Bucs goal

October 1, 2025 46 1

Tshegofatso Mabaso of Orlando Pirates celebrates goal during the Betway Premiership 2025/26 match between Orlando Pirates and TS Galaxy at Orlando Stadium, in Soweto on 30 September 2025 ©Phakamisa Lensman/BackpagePix

Orlando Pirates coach, Abdeslam Ouaddou, has praised striker Tshegofatso Mabasa after he reached the 50-goal milestone for the club.

Mabasa scored deep in stoppage time against TS Galaxy at the Orlando Stadium on Tuesday night, becoming the Buccaneers’ second-highest PSL goal scorer behind Bennedict “Tso” Vilakazi, who leads with 58 goals.

The Bloemfontein-born forward came off the bench in the second-half to score the second goal in the 90th minute to help Pirates walk away with maximum points, which saw them climb up to third spot on the log standings. Mabasa added to the scoreline after Evidence Makgopa gave the Buccaneers the lead in the first-half from the penalty spot.

Mabasa insisted Makgopa take the penalty to boost his confidence amid a goal drought.

Ouaddou said the milestone reflects Mabasa’s resilience and character.

“First of all, I’m happy for him, I’m happy that Mabasa scored, it shows the fantastic team spirit in this player. Like I said, at the beginning of the season, he was not playing, but you can see that he has 100% involvement in training,” Ouaddou said.

“He’s very professional, all the time he’s advising his teammates, getting close to them, and he has a clean heart. If I can go a little bit deep, I can tell you that one time I wanted to bring him on the pitch, and he told me to bring in Masindi [Nemtajela]. So he was pushing for his teammate to play instead of him. I’m not surprised about what you said [about Mabasa encouraging Makgopa to take the penalty], you know it’s very important for a striker to score. I’m very happy about the spirit of everyone,” he added.