A rare trophy-less domestic campaign last term has lit a fire under Mamelodi Sundowns, with defender Grant Kekana insisting that hunger and early-season momentum will drive their charge against Orlando Pirates in Saturday’s MTN8 final at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
The two PSL giants collide in their first meeting of the season, each aiming to fire the opening shot of the campaign and lay hands on the first piece of silverware up for grabs.
Masandawana go into Saturday’s tie on a high after lifting the FIFA African-Asian-Pacific Cup just before the international break. While the Brazilians are fresh from that feat, they are to meet the Buccaneers, who are still carrying the bragging rights of being the reigning Betway Premiership champions.
Interestingly, both sides are yet to taste defeat in the league this season. But Sundowns have lost a match when they went down 1-0 to Golden Arrows FC in the MTN8 semi-finals, first-leg at home, before overturning the result with a 3-2 second-leg victory.
‘IT’S NOT PERSONAL’: KEKANA ON SUNDOWNS-PIRATES RIVALRY PLUS MOTIVATION
Sundowns last won the MTN8 in 2021, and they come up against Pirates, who have won it a record four times in a row going into Saturday’s game. That could raise the stakes, but Kekana is not taking the two teams’ rivalry personally.
“I think it’s not too personal; we don’t like personalising games. I think it’s more just about us doing better than what we did last season, and I think we have had such a good start this season,” Kekana told the media.
“We just want to keep that momentum because we are highly motivated; we are all positive. As you can see, a lot of players have been getting a chance.
“I think everybody is not far off from one another. It’s just about us implementing what we know so that we get a positive result at the weekend.
“As Mamelodi Sundowns, we don’t play competitions to compete, but we play to dominate. Last season we were unfortunate not to get anything, any trophies locally.
“But this season we have given ourselves a chance, especially at the start of the season. We are still adjusting to get a local trophy. So, we are highly motivated, and I think the lads are just eager and ready to go.”
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