{"id":717,"date":"2025-09-12T08:59:50","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T06:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/?p=717"},"modified":"2026-01-28T14:49:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T12:49:26","slug":"confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/","title":{"rendered":"Confident Pirates and vengeful Stellies to battle for MTN8 glory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch FC will cross swords in the 2025 MTN8 final at the 2010 FIFA World Cup venue, Mbombela Stadium, on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kick-off is at 6:00 pm CAT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CURRENT FORM&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Buccaneers are the favourites coming into this encounter&nbsp;due to their cup pedigree and current form across all competitions, having won each of their last four matches, including a victory&nbsp;over Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 semi-final second-leg clash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pirates are on a mission to clinch a record-extending fourth successive MTN8 title and also lift the Top 8 trophy for the 14th time &#8211; edging closer to their arch-rivals, Kaizer Chiefs&#8217; record of 15 titles since the competition&#8217;s inception in 1972.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Stellenbosch are underdogs and their current form is a major concern, having won just one of their last four matches across all competitions, including a defeat to Sundowns in their last game just before the recent FIFA international break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Stellies have already shown that they have what it takes to win a major cup competition as they were crowned 2023\/24 Carling Knockout champions and they will be keen to avenge their defeat to Pirates in last season&#8217;s MTN8 final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>TEAM NEWS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both teams have no suspension concerns, but Pirates trio Makhehlene Makhaula, Thabiso Sesane and Selaelo Rasebotja are busy with their injury rehabilitation, while Sanele Barns is an injury doubt, having missed Stellenbosch&#8217;s last two matches&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Buccaneers have been boosted by the availability of Nkosinathi Sibisi and Patrick Maswanganyi,&nbsp;who were both excluded from the Bafana Bafana squad that recently faced Nigeria and Lesotho in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers due to their respective injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>WHAT WAS SAID?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEveryone knows that it&#8217;s a big event for&nbsp;the club and the fans. We have been preparing well and everyone is focused on the final, and it&#8217;s very important for our fans and the club,&#8221; Ouaddou said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Stellenbosch is well known for many years now, they are a very professional club and they have a vision and they have a good coach and players. The fact that we won the first game doesn\u2019t mean that we have to take it easy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It&#8217;s another game, it&#8217;s a final, and every team that reaches the final means they have a lot of quality. That is why we are taking it very seriously and I can assure you we will be ready for the final.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLook, obviously, it shows testimony to what a good team (Pirates) they have built. To have seven players in the national team, and maybe one or two that are injured that could have been in the national team,&#8221; Barker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Basically, they got national team players, which shows the quality. At the same time, what&#8217;s in our favour and advantage is that we only have Thabo currently there [with Bafana Bafana], which has allowed us this week to prepare with our full squad except one.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Where else are Pirates likely to get their players really fresh and ready to prepare from tomorrow [Wednesday] or Thursday onwards. But it doesn&#8217;t make it easier because it just shows the quality that they have&#8230; that [they] are all playing at the national level.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PLAYERS TO WATCH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patrick Maswanganyi, Orlando Pirates: The influential playmaker has scored three goals and grabbed a Man of the Match award this season, and he has the ability to inspire Bucs to win over Stellies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Langelihle Phili, Stellenbosch FC: The skillful winger has also found the back of the net three times this season and his goalscoring ability could be key to the Winelands side emerging victorious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Orlando Pirates v Stellenbosch FC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Head-to-Head (since 2019\/20)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>PREVIOUS CUP MEETINGS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Season&nbsp;Cup&nbsp;Result&nbsp;Scorers<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2019\/20&nbsp;Telkom KO, last 16&nbsp;Pirates 1-0 Stellenbosch&nbsp;Lorch<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2022\/23&nbsp;MTN8 semi, 1<sup>st<\/sup>&nbsp;leg&nbsp;Stellenbosch 1-2 Pirates&nbsp;Toure; Lepasa, Hotto<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2022\/23&nbsp;MTN8 semi, 2<sup>nd<\/sup>&nbsp;leg&nbsp;Pirates 0-1 Stellenbosch&nbsp;Lepasa (og)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2024\/25&nbsp;MTN8 final&nbsp;Pirates 3-1 Stellenbosch&nbsp;Saleng, Mabasa,&nbsp;Mofokeng; Mojela<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CUP RECORD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">P&nbsp;W&nbsp;D&nbsp;L&nbsp;GF&nbsp;GA<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pirates&nbsp;4&nbsp;3&nbsp;0&nbsp;1&nbsp;6&nbsp;3<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stellenbosch&nbsp;4&nbsp;1&nbsp;0&nbsp;3&nbsp;3&nbsp;6<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ALL LEAGUE RESULTS<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Season&nbsp;Result&nbsp;Scorers<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2020\/21&nbsp;Stellenbosch 0-0 Pirates<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2021\/22&nbsp;Pirates 2-2 Stellenbosch&nbsp;Hotto, Mosele; Isaacs, Moseamedi<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2021\/22&nbsp;Stellenbosch 0-3 Pirates&nbsp;Makgaka, Hotto 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2022\/23&nbsp;Stellenbosch 1-1 Pirates&nbsp;Mendieta; Sibisi<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2022\/23&nbsp;Pirates 4-1 Stellenbosch&nbsp;Monare, Maela, Erasmus, Ndlondlo; Boji<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2023\/24&nbsp;Stellenbosch 1-0 Pirates&nbsp;Van Wyk<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2023\/24&nbsp;Pirates 2-3 Stellenbosch&nbsp;Xoki (pen), Makgopa; Rayners, Titus, De Jong<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2024\/25&nbsp;Pirates 0-1 Stellenbosch&nbsp;Titus<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2024\/25&nbsp;Stellenbosch 0-0 Pirates<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2025\/26&nbsp;Pirates 1-0 Stellenbosch&nbsp;Sebelebele<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">OVERALL RECORD (all competitions)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Total<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">P&nbsp;W&nbsp;D&nbsp;L&nbsp;GF&nbsp;GA<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pirates&nbsp;17&nbsp;7&nbsp;5&nbsp;5&nbsp;21&nbsp;14Stellenbosch&nbsp;17&nbsp;5&nbsp;5&nbsp;7&nbsp;14&nbsp;21<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch FC will cross swords in the 2025 MTN8 final at the 2010 FIFA World Cup venue, Mbombela Stadium, on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":718,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[70,56,71],"class_list":["post-717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-mtn8","tag-orlando-pirates","tag-stellenbosch-fc"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Confident Pirates and vengeful Stellies to battle for MTN8 glory - GoalMzansi.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch FC will cross swords in the 2025 MTN8 final at the 2010 FIFA World Cup venue, Mbombela Stadium, on Saturday.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Confident Pirates and vengeful Stellies to battle for MTN8 glory - GoalMzansi.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch FC will cross swords in the 2025 MTN8 final at the 2010 FIFA World Cup venue, Mbombela Stadium, on Saturday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GoalMzansi.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/GoalMzansi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-12T06:59:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-28T12:49:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/MTN8-trophy_800.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GoalMzansi.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GoalMzansi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GoalMzansi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GoalMzansi.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GoalMzansi.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/db5d4fb9346c2c03b4f83f899826d1fa\"},\"headline\":\"Confident Pirates and vengeful Stellies to battle for MTN8 glory\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-12T06:59:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-28T12:49:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":833,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/MTN8-trophy_800.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"MTN8\",\"Orlando Pirates\",\"Stellenbosch FC\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\\\/\",\"name\":\"Confident Pirates and vengeful Stellies to battle for MTN8 glory - GoalMzansi.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/MTN8-trophy_800.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-12T06:59:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-28T12:49:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch FC will cross swords in the 2025 MTN8 final at the 2010 FIFA World Cup venue, Mbombela Stadium, on Saturday.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/MTN8-trophy_800.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/MTN8-trophy_800.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"General view of the MTN8 Trophy during the 2025 MTN8 Semifinal Stellenbosch FC Training Session &amp; Press Conference held at Lentelus Sports Ground in Stellenbosch on 15 August 2025 \u00a9 Shaun Roy\\\/BackpagePix\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/12\\\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Confident Pirates and vengeful Stellies to battle for MTN8 glory\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"GoalMzansi.com\",\"description\":\"From Mzansi to the World \u2014 The Game Lives Here.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"GoalMzansi.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/cropped-cropped-GM-Banner-03-scaled-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/cropped-cropped-GM-Banner-03-scaled-1.jpg\",\"width\":2145,\"height\":941,\"caption\":\"GoalMzansi.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/web.facebook.com\\\/GoalMzansi\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/GoalMzansi\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tiktok.com\\\/@goalmzansi.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/goal_mzansi\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@GoalMzansi\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/db5d4fb9346c2c03b4f83f899826d1fa\",\"name\":\"GoalMzansi.com\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/88b3518655735208b5fd08ce061f9c422f211831382d9f1e4db91d498cd7f670?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/88b3518655735208b5fd08ce061f9c422f211831382d9f1e4db91d498cd7f670?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/88b3518655735208b5fd08ce061f9c422f211831382d9f1e4db91d498cd7f670?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"GoalMzansi.com\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/goalmzansi-com\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Confident Pirates and vengeful Stellies to battle for MTN8 glory - GoalMzansi.com","description":"Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch FC will cross swords in the 2025 MTN8 final at the 2010 FIFA World Cup venue, Mbombela Stadium, on Saturday.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Confident Pirates and vengeful Stellies to battle for MTN8 glory - GoalMzansi.com","og_description":"Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch FC will cross swords in the 2025 MTN8 final at the 2010 FIFA World Cup venue, Mbombela Stadium, on Saturday.","og_url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/","og_site_name":"GoalMzansi.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/GoalMzansi\/","article_published_time":"2025-09-12T06:59:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-28T12:49:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/MTN8-trophy_800.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"GoalMzansi.com","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@GoalMzansi","twitter_site":"@GoalMzansi","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GoalMzansi.com","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/"},"author":{"name":"GoalMzansi.com","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/db5d4fb9346c2c03b4f83f899826d1fa"},"headline":"Confident Pirates and vengeful Stellies to battle for MTN8 glory","datePublished":"2025-09-12T06:59:50+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-28T12:49:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/"},"wordCount":833,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/MTN8-trophy_800.jpg","keywords":["MTN8","Orlando Pirates","Stellenbosch FC"],"articleSection":["Local News"],"inLanguage":"en-ZA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/","url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/","name":"Confident Pirates and vengeful Stellies to battle for MTN8 glory - GoalMzansi.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/MTN8-trophy_800.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-12T06:59:50+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-28T12:49:26+00:00","description":"Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch FC will cross swords in the 2025 MTN8 final at the 2010 FIFA World Cup venue, Mbombela Stadium, on Saturday.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/MTN8-trophy_800.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/MTN8-trophy_800.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"caption":"General view of the MTN8 Trophy during the 2025 MTN8 Semifinal Stellenbosch FC Training Session &amp; Press Conference held at Lentelus Sports Ground in Stellenbosch on 15 August 2025 \u00a9 Shaun Roy\/BackpagePix"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/confident-pirates-and-vengeful-stellies-to-battle-for-mtn8-glory\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Confident Pirates and vengeful Stellies to battle for MTN8 glory"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/","name":"GoalMzansi.com","description":"From Mzansi to the World \u2014 The Game Lives Here.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-ZA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#organization","name":"GoalMzansi.com","url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped-cropped-GM-Banner-03-scaled-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped-cropped-GM-Banner-03-scaled-1.jpg","width":2145,"height":941,"caption":"GoalMzansi.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/GoalMzansi\/","https:\/\/x.com\/GoalMzansi","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@goalmzansi.com","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/goal_mzansi\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@GoalMzansi"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/db5d4fb9346c2c03b4f83f899826d1fa","name":"GoalMzansi.com","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88b3518655735208b5fd08ce061f9c422f211831382d9f1e4db91d498cd7f670?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88b3518655735208b5fd08ce061f9c422f211831382d9f1e4db91d498cd7f670?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88b3518655735208b5fd08ce061f9c422f211831382d9f1e4db91d498cd7f670?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"GoalMzansi.com"},"url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/author\/goalmzansi-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":719,"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions\/719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}