Sundowns v Pirates: who is going to blink first in MTN8 semifinal showdown?

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso on Thursday hid any signs he will be under pressure to beat Orlando Pirates in the semifinal second leg of the MTN8 at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday.

Recent history and the fact that Sundowns last won a domestic cup during the 2021-22 season favour Pirates, who have not only made this cup their own in the past three years but boast the Nedbank Cup which they won in 2023 and 2024 under former coach Jose Riveiro.

Saturday's semifinal follows Pirates and Sundowns’ 1-1 draw in Orlando that left Cardoso with the monumental task of figuring out how to approach the second leg.

Does he sit back and protect this result, as Sundowns will be through to the final on away goal rule if the match ends in a 0-0 stalemate?

Pirates have not only been cup kings in recent years, but they have also done so having gone past the eight-time successive league champions Sundowns.

On their way to winning the MTN8 in 2022, Pirates beat Sundowns 3-0 in Polokwane after the first leg semifinal had ended 0-0 in Orlando.

Pirates further beat Sundowns 3-1 on penalties in the final of the MTN8 in 2023 before doing the same in the Nedbank Cup final in 2024 at Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga, where Bucs won 2-1. 

“Any coach trying to play a draw because he's got a goal away is making a mistake,” said the Portuguese-born coach who joined Sundowns in December. 

“It's not [playing for a draw] even my way to approach football and for sure not in the nature of our players and our club. We have a big responsibility to make the best possible result out of this semifinal. 

“I believe that we have to score goals if we want to go through because we're playing against a team that can also score at any moment through the quality of the players that they have.

“These kinds of matches need to be prepared for tactically. Our approach will be like a normal match that we want to win. We know the qualities of our opponents and we need to reduce them.”

With that it becomes clear this will be an open and free-flowing match as Pirates will have no reason to sit back knowing a 0-0 scoreline will knock them out.

Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou alluded to this fact when he addressed the media at PSL offices in Parktown before the arrival of the Sundowns coach.

“We know that it will not be easy because we're not playing at home, but we'll try to find resources to go through. We have a title to defend, and we definitely have ambitions to defend our title,” said Ouaddou.

On the point that Sundowns can go through on the away goal rule, Ouaddou echoed Cardoso in saying it will be dangerous to enter Saturday's game aiming to sit back and defend an away goal advantage.

“It's tricky for both teams,” said the Pirates coach.

“You have to be very smart, very clever about the approach of the game. It will be interesting to see how the two teams will approach the game. Of course I cannot give you our plan now, but what I can tell you is it will be a very interesting game for both sides.”

After struggling to settle in at Pirates, highlighted by the fact that he didn't seem to know the right team to start matches with, Ouaddou looks to have corrected that in the last two matches — a draw against Sundowns last Saturday and a 1-0 victory in a Betway Premiership match against Stellenbosch FC in Orlando on Wednesday.

In those matches the Pirates coach made the players he found at Pirates the core of his starting line-up, but new players such as Oswin Appollis, Sipho Mbule, Sihle Nduli and Kamogelo Sebelebele, who got the all-important equaliser against Sundowns, have all shown signs of settling in and continue to be regulars.

Sebelebele followed his performance against Sundowns with a man-of-the-match display against Stellies in Orlando on Wednesday, where he also got a winner that gave Pirates their first victory in the league after starting the season with two defeats against Sekhukhune United and Marumo Gallants.

Speaking specifically about Sebelebele's influence in the team, Ouaddou didn't mince his words, describing the former TS Galaxy winger as a great asset for his side as he's not playing as an attacking right winger but has had to fill the right back position after Deano van Rooyen's injury.

Sebelebele's work at Pirates was also recognised by the national team coach Hugo Broos on Thursday when he named him in his preliminary Bafana Bafana squad that will face Lesotho and Nigeria in the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers in September.

In the absence of Van Rooyen in Saturday's match Sebelebele may start at right back with Appollis playing in front of him just as they ended in Wednesday's game against Stellies.

Ouaddou was full of praise for Sebelebele after Wednesday's match, saying humility is one of his great attributes and he is sure it will keep him grounded despite his elevated status with Pirates.

“He’s just a fantastic, well-educated player, professional and very humble,” said Ouaddou of the 23-year-old.

“I think I don't have much to tell him. He knows his job, he knows what to do.

“In football I always say to my players that humility is one of the very important qualities for a professional football player because as long as you stop learning you stop improving. So he's the type of a guy who's working hard every day since he arrived [six weeks ago].

“He doesn't complain. You've seen that I have played him at right back and as a winger. He's always giving his best and he's the type of player we want to have in the team, and he's done a fantastic job.”

The winner of Saturday's match between Sundowns and Pirates will face either Stellenbosch or Sekhukhune in the final.

The two will also play their second leg semifinal in Polokwane on Saturday night with Stellies having a great advantage after winning 2-0 in Cape Town last Saturday.