Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has thrown his weight behind young centre-back Lebone Seema, who featured in just his second appearance for the Buccaneers during the MTN8 semi-final first leg against Mamelodi Sundowns at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.
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The 22-year-old joined the Soweto giants ahead of the 2025/26 campaign after catching the eye with his steady rise at TS Galaxy.
Having graduated from the club’s DStv Diski Challenge side, Seema broke into the Rockets’ first team in the 2022/23 season and went on to make over 20 senior appearances before making the switch to Mayfair.
Ouaddou, who took charge of the Buccaneers at the start of the campaign, expressed his belief in the potential of the youngster while stressing that there is still work to be done for him to reach the very top.
“About Seema, it’s not the first game that he played. He played in the preparation game. We had time to see him. He played in the previous game as well,” the coach explained after the draw with Sundowns.
“Of course, I think if the club brings him here and the scouting department of Orlando Pirates bring him here, it means they have seen something, some competencies in him. And like you know, he’s still young. He’s doing good things, but we need to improve him and to bring him to a high level. Because we still need to bring him to be at a top, top, top level for modern football.”
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