Sekhukhune United captain Daniel Cardoso targets MTN8 as ‘easiest trophy’ in 2026-27

Sekhukhune United captain Daniel Cardoso says the club must end its long wait for a major trophy in the 2026-27 season, with the MTN8 identified as an early and realistic opportunity.

The Limpopo-based side have not won a top-flight trophy since securing promotion from the Motsepe Foundation Championship five seasons ago. They have finished in the top five in four of those campaigns, but their best chance of lifting a major cup came in the 2023 Nedbank Cup final, when they were beaten by Orlando Pirates.

Sekhukhune United began the current Betway Premiership season with a 1-0 victory over Durban City in Seshego last weekend. The result came at the same venue where Babina Noko had won the pre-season Mafori Cup a week earlier.

Although the club’s players had not yet formally discussed their objectives for the campaign when he spoke to iDiski Times, Cardoso believes the MTN8 should be among their immediate priorities.

“I think we do owe the club a trophy,” Cardoso told iDiski Times.

“I think this season we do have to win a trophy; there’s no negotiations about that. We haven’t sat down as a team as yet to discuss what our goals are for the season, where we want to finish the season, what trophies we want this season.

“So, I think that’s very important as a team that we need to get to the drawing board and start doing that. But yeah, I think you know MTN8 is one of the easiest trophies to win. There are only four games, and you are in the final.

“So, I’m hoping that winning the Mafori Cup, even though it’s not an official trophy and all of that, maybe it will give the boys a bit of a taste of what winning trophies is and just getting that winning feeling and getting used to the winning feeling.”

The MTN8 offers the shortest route to a cup final, with teams required to win four matches to reach the showpiece, according to Cardoso. The Sekhukhune United captain hopes their success in the Mafori Cup, despite its unofficial status, can help the squad become accustomed to winning and provide confidence at the start of the new season.

Cardoso’s comments were published in edition 267 of iDiski Times, in an interview with journalist Lethabo Kganyago. He said the squad had yet to sit down collectively to decide where they wanted to finish in the league or which trophies they would target during the campaign.

Sekhukhune United’s strong league record in recent seasons has established them among the upper-ranking sides in the Betway Premiership, but the club are still waiting for their first major top-flight honour. Their defeat by Orlando Pirates in the 2023 Nedbank Cup final remains the closest they have come to ending that wait.