New Orlando Pirates’ Moroccan coach, Abdeslam Ouaddou, will have a tricky acid test at the start of his ‘Sea Robbers’ career. Photo: Supplied

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Fresh from its Spanish experience in the offseason, Orlando Pirates will want to implement the skills acquired in that trip to mark the start of its arduous fourth successive triumph in the MTN8 trophy on August 2 at the iconic Orlando Stadium.

The Mighty Buccaneers will play host to unpredictable Polokwane City side in the quarterfinals opener of the matches, which will all the Top 8 teams of the Betway Premiership 2024/25 season in action over the two days of the weekend.

While the Bucs hosts Polokwane City, the other match of the day will involve a revamped Sekhukhune United up against TS Galaxy at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane in the Limpopo province, which is home to both sides.

Sekhukhune is one of the few teams that have been busy on the market during the offseason trying to refreshen and add both defensive and fire power for the new season which kicks off with this MTN8 trophy tournament.

The ‘Sea Robbers’, as Pirates are also known to its avid fans base, had their faire share of activity on the market, which included the acquisition of former Marumo Gallants’ Moroccan coach Abdeslam Ouaddou, and fans await with bated breath to see their newly acquired stars in action and display what the new season can expect from them.

If the new acquisitions can hit the ground running and manage to successfully defend the trophy for a fourth uninterrupted time, that will sound serious warning bells on the part of Amabhakaniya to other teams in the premiership, especially to Mamelodi Sundowns that has dominated the league championship for eight times in a row.

The second day of the MTN8 quarterfinals will pit the rising powerhouse of South African football Stellenbosch FC in a clash with AmaZulu FC at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on August 3, with the last game of the day featuring the ‘Yellow Machine’ of Sundowns at home at the Lucas ‘Masterpieces’ Moripe Stadium in action against the ‘Rich Boys’ that are better known as Richards Bay FC.

Fans of all the teams that will be in action over the two days of the quarterfinal matches will eagerly keep their fingers crossed in the hope their favourite side makes it into the semi-finals of the season opener MTN8 tournament. Whosoever makes it is anybody’s guess for now, but the final whistles of the quarterfinal matches will determine who makes it and who doesn’t.

As soccer scribes, all we can say is ‘May best teams on the two days progress to the semi-finals, with the best two making it into the finals and the best team ultimately being crowned MTN8 champions’.