WeeklySA_AdminMTN 8: Amakhosi under coach Ntseki still to register win
By Ali Mphaki
Following two games in the league against Chippa United and Mamelodi Sundowns in the last four days, Kaizer Chiefs will change gears as focus shifts to the first knockout competition of the season which is the MTN8, a cup Chiefs have won a record 15 times.
MTN8 is the league’s competition that pits eight teams that finished in the top half of the table last season against each other for a winner-takes-all prize of R8m.
After finishing fifth, Amakhosi will travel to Cape Town to face Cape Town City who were fourth at the end of 2022/23 DStv Premiership season. The clash will take place at Athlone Stadium.
This is the second season that Chiefs start the MTN8 competition in the Western Cape after beating Stellenbosch in the first round to advance to the semifinals of the lucrative cup competition last year.
The match against City is a must-win for the Glamour Boys, who would like to get their hands on silverware this season. Another reason for the trophy is that after 15 years of sponsoring the competition, MTN have decided to design a new trophy that will be won this year.
After fielding a number of players in the first two league games, and watching Cape Town City in action, coach Molefi Ntseki is expected to prepare a strong line up in the next two days to be ready for Sunday’s tough clash.
Meanwhile Stellenbosch FC coach Steve Barker has revealed that his side has the belief that they can compete for this season’s MTN 8 trophy ahead of Sunday’s quarter-final against SuperSport United.
Stellies’ 2023/24 MTN 8 campaign gets underway this weekend when the club goes head-to-head with SuperSport United at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane. The team from the Cape Winelands will be making their second-ever appearance in the competition, having lost to Kaizer Chiefs at the quarter-final stage last time around, and head coach Steve Barker believes his side can go all the way and compete for this year’s trophy.
“In the MTN 8 last season we lost on penalties to Chiefs but we were that close to making a semi-final,” Barker said at the competition’s launch on Thursday. “Similarly, in the Nedbank Cup [last season] we just missed out on making the final after losing out on penalties [to Sekhukhune United].
This year’s edition also saw the introduction of a new-look MTN 8 trophy, which Barker admits he would love to add to the club’s trophy cabinet.
“I’m sure the new trophy is going to be magnificent and something to look forward to, and we’d love to be the first team to put our name on it. We will be giving everything we have,” he added.
