Cardoso says MTN8 final with Orlando Pirates is ‘Champions League level’

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso says Saturday’s MTN8 final against Orlando Pirates will be played at the same level as a Champions League match, with his team seeking to end a four-year wait for a domestic cup.

The final takes place at Moses Mabhida Stadium at 18:00, with Sundowns facing the team that has become the dominant force in South African cup football. Orlando Pirates have won six of the past eight domestic cup competitions.

The Buccaneers also ended Sundowns’ eight-season reign as Betway Premiership champions last season. Pirates claimed their first league title and completed their first treble since achieving the feat in successive campaigns in 2010/11 and 2011/12.

That success came in Moroccan coach Abdeslam Ouaddou’s first season and underlined Pirates’ ambition to challenge Sundowns’ long-standing control of the South African game.

Sundowns responded to their domestic disappointments by winning the Caf Champions League for a second time, following their 2016 triumph. They have also begun 2026/27 strongly, beating Al Ahli Saudi to win the 2026 Fifa African-Asian-Pacific Cup last month.

Asked how the MTN8 final compares with May’s 2026 Champions League final, in which Sundowns beat Morocco’s FAR Rabat 2-1 on aggregate, and their recent African-Asian meeting, Cardoso stressed the importance of the domestic occasion.

“For South Africa this is an important one. If we take all the fans in South Africa who love the game, maybe most are more worried about what happens inside the country than internationally,” he said.

“But it’s not about what is more important. For us, every trophy and every competition is important.

“We know how we have to play in every stage of every competition and we know international level is very important for this club. We also know the difficulty of international level is so high. So when we are there we need to play the best to represent not only ourselves but the country.

“But we know the stature of a match like this. We take nothing away from that, we want to do well.

“For some time myself and the coaching staff have never played a [domestic] cup final. So it’s also an important moment for us.

“But it’s also just the next match. We will play on the Tuesday immediately after [against Richards Bay FC in Durban] and play the next weekend in the qualifier for the Champions League [group stage, against Angola’s Wiliete SC]. And of course [that is important] regarding the preparation and the risk of using players who are not 100%.

“But we will go with full intention and commitment for this match, fully aware of what is at stake. We take nothing for granted.

“It means we have to prepare ourselves on the details. It will be a high-level match at the same level as a Champions League match, absolutely, because Orlando Pirates are also a high-level team full of quality players.”