Orlando Pirates Football Club (FC) are in pursuit of their 11th MTN8 Cup after a number of barren years without silverware. On their path are AmaZulu FC who are yet to lay their hands on this 8-team annual cup competition. They are meeting in KwaZulu Natal, the south-eastern coast of South Africa, which is a home province of AmaZulu and, if anything, this should give them an edge over their rivals from Johannesburg.
Saturday | November 5, 2022
The MTN8 Cup hits the peak of its crescendo this evening. Today, it is showtime for the first silverware battle of the season in the premiership featuring Orlando Pirates and AmaZulu in the MTN8 Cup final. They will slug it out at the iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday at 18h00.
Pirates thrashed Mamelodi Sundowns FC 3-0 on aggregate while AmaZulu defeated Kaizer Chiefs FC on away goal advantage in a double-fixture semi-final to reach the final. Unlike the penultimate matches, the cup final is a one-off event where the victor should emerge within the given time or extra-time. If the anticipated fierce duel ends in a stalemate after 120 minutes of play, penalty shootouts will settle the scores.
Having eliminated Sundowns, the defending champions, Pirates are coming into the final as hot favourites to lift the MTN8 trophy. For their part, Kermit Erasmus and Monnapule Saleng played a critical role in getting the team this far. There is little doubt that they will be the center of focus and definitely players AmaZulu will be interested in to minimize their influence in the final.
The Buccaneers’ 1-0 loss to Chiefs in the Soweto derby in the DStv Premier league match a week before this game might serve as inspiration to AmaZulu and their chances to emerge victorious this evening. On the contrary, AmaZulu are coming at the back of a (1-0) league win over Stellenbosch FC. Usuthu will count on their duo target men, Gabadinho Mhango and Lehlohonolo Majoro (who usually comes in from the bench), to end their trophy-less hunt in a long time. Ironically, both Mhango and Majoro once wore the Pirates jersey. They will certainly be salivating on the prospects of getting one over their former club.
As it has come to be known of cup-final games, the Pirates-AmaZulu draw has seen tickets sell out days before matchday. When it kicks off, the athletes in the field can expect a rousing atmosphere which should spare their performances. Indeed, cup games are often exhilarating due to their no second chances nature. Teams usually give their best. Therefore, the MTN8 should not fall out of the ordinary cup-final norm.
Another fascinating aspect of this cup final is that both clubs have relatively new coaches – the Spanish Jose Riveiro (Pirates) and the French Romain Folz (AmaZulu) – who will be guiding their troops for the very first time in one of the major domestic cup tournaments.
Up for grabs is a prize money of R8 million and a trophy. The winner-take-all cup comes over two weeks before the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cup in Qatar. That means this is the last official Premier Soccer League game before a near-2 month break from domestic football.
Historic MTN8 Cup Winners
Kaiser Chiefs won the cup 15 times;
Pirates 10 cups,
Sundowns hold 4 trophies;
Super Sport United FC, the now-defunct Wits University FC and Swallows FC hold 3 cups apiece;
Other previous winners tasted the cup only once.