Every Bucs supporter knows the away-night ritual in Africa: phone face up on the arm of the couch, the clock crawling, one chance gone and then another. Last weekend in Gaborone, it was Tshepang Moremi who ended the waiting, with the only goal of Orlando Pirates’ 1-0 win over African Stars. The Tshepang Moremi Pirates fans see today is not the player who arrived from AmaZulu in 2025, a winger some supporters wanted left out of the match-day squad. On Friday at Orlando Stadium, with the tie half won, he is the one to watch.
Who he is
Moremi is 26, born on 2 October 2000 according to Orlando Pirates’ official player profile, and he wears the number 11. The club lists him as a wide attacker, a right-footed forward, and gives him the nickname “Continental”. FARPost described him as comfortable on either flank when he signed. There is more on the club on our Orlando Pirates page.
He is a Sharpeville product, schooled at the Rosina Sedibana Modiba Sports School, and Pirates note that he comes from a family of Bucs supporters. His senior career began at AmaZulu in 2020, but the road to the top flight was not a straight one: loans at Bizana Pondo Chiefs and JDR Stars in the lower leagues came before he broke into the Usuthu first team.
By 2024/25 he was a regular in Durban, with 31 appearances, four goals and seven assists in all competitions, FARPost reported. In June 2025 AmaZulu accepted Pirates’ offer for him. By then he had already made his Bafana Bafana debut, in a friendly against Tanzania.
Why now: the Tshepang Moremi Pirates have been waiting for
The first weeks in Soweto were hard. Business Report and the Cape Argus both described a forward who looked sluggish and wasteful in front of goal, and some supporters turned on him. Pirates fans are not famous for their patience. Abdeslam Ouaddou and his staff kept backing him anyway.
Then came Mbombela on 13 September 2025. The MTN8 final against Stellenbosch was goalless after 90 minutes. Moremi came off the bench, scored two minutes into extra time, set up Tshegofatso Mabasa for the second and added the third himself. Pirates won 3-0 for a fourth MTN8 title in a row. It was the first trophy of his professional career, and he said so that night: “Winning the MTN8 means a lot. I didn’t have a trophy to show for my career.”
Two weeks later he scored twice in a 4-0 win over Lioli of Lesotho in the Champions League. The club counts 11 goals in that first season. During that season he went to the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with South Africa, and in May this year he was named in the squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
That is the background to Gaborone. He has done this before, on nights that test nerve as much as talent. Our first-leg report has how the goal came about.
Strengths and style
Pirates sum him up in four words, “Relentless Runner. Sharp Shooter.”, and list what sits behind them: pace and acceleration, dribbling and carrying the ball, and clinical movement in the final third.
Watch where he starts and where he ends up. A right-footed wide player who is happy on either side can drift inside to shoot or stay wide to stretch a back four. The MTN8 final showed the run Pirates want most. His third goal came from beating the offside trap to meet an Oswin Appollis pass, Business Report noted, the kind of run that hurts tired defenders late in a long night. He described the idea himself in a television interview after that final: see the space behind the defence, make the run, and the chance will come.
The other strength is harder to put a number on. He has a habit of changing games from the bench. On Tuesday 13 October, three days after Pirates lost this season’s MTN8 final to Mamelodi Sundowns, he came on against TS Galaxy and scored the second goal of a 3-0 win, as our Pirates v Galaxy report recorded. Plenty of players sulk when they are not in the starting line-up. Moremi tends to make a point instead.
Ask him what the shirt demands and the answer is not about tactics. “Being at Pirates, you need to have heart and the right mindset,” he said, in remarks Business Report published the day after that final.
What to watch next
Friday is the return leg at Orlando Stadium, with Pirates 1-0 up from Gaborone. Everything on the tie itself, from team news to what the coach has said this week, is in today’s Pirates v African Stars preview. If the preliminary rounds are new to you, our CAF Champions League explainer sets out how they work.
Three things to look for. First, whether he starts or is kept back for the second half, a role he has made his own on big nights. Second, his runs in behind: a team chasing a deficit usually leaves space, and that is his game. Third, his end product. One goal in Gaborone put Pirates in front. Another on Friday would go a long way to settling it.
From a sports school in Sharpeville to a family of Bucs supporters in the stands. From doubted new signing to MTN8 final match-winner. From the bench to the only goal in Gaborone. Friday is the next chapter. Keep your eyes on the right flank. Or the left. He does not stay in one place for long.