Mochudi Centre Chiefs will head for next week’s Mascom Top 8 clash against Nico United looking to go all the way and add the trophy to their cabinet.
Ever since the cup was convened way back in 2012, the Kgatleng side has yet to win it, let alone make the finals of the cup despite competing in all its editions.
In all the three previous editions of the cup, Centre Chiefs has never made it past the semi final stage despite going into all the games as one of the favorites.
In fact, the cup has eluded the Mochudi side so much it has been dubbed the side’s hoodoo cup.
Mochudi Centre Chiefs’ Public Relations Officer (PRO), Clifford Mogomotsi, described his team’s date with Nico in this year’s edition of the cup as a tricky one.
“This cup has always proved very elusive for us. The truth is we are aware that it is the only cup we miss in our trophy cabinet,” he said.
”We are also aware that our supporters are very keen to see us winning this cup. However, we do not want to put ourselves under any pressure and believe that when the time comes, it will come into our possession.”
Mogomotsi said this was not the first time that ‘Magosi’ has had a hard time landing a certain title, citing how the team had previously struggled for a long time before they eventually landed the then elusive Premier League championship. However, he said, they are determined to do well and finally lay hands on the trophy.
Mogomotsi expressed confidence that they would put themselves in a good stead to progress into the next round in Sunday’s game against Nico United.
“When we played them about three weeks ago, we managed to come from behind and hold them to a draw despite being a man down. When we face them this time around, we will have the full complement of our team and we are optimistic we will win,” said the Centre Chiefs PRO.
He did not expect the game against the Selibe Phikwe side to be plain sailing, saying
there is never an easy game when the so called small teams play against ‘Magosi.’
“If you look at this season’s matches, both Nico and ECCO have been struggling. However, against us, they put up a valiant fight and both managed to hold us to draws and this is the fight we will expect from them when we meet them,” Mogomotsi explained.
The Centre Chiefs PRO said the biggest advantage is that his team will play the first leg away in Phikwe, meaning that if they get good results, they will have a bigger advantage to progress.
Meanwhile, Nico United coach, Kenneth Mogae, has said that his team is looking forward to their clash against ‘Magosi.’
The Nico mentor said when they come against Centre Chiefs this coming week, it will be a different ball game from the league match they played a couple of weeks back. “We played them three weeks ago and we drew. This encounter will however be different in that both teams will be going for a win,” Mogae said.
“When I came into the team last year, we had already played a game and we were going on to play the second leg and we could not make it into the latter stages. This year, I will be with the team from the first game and I am hopeful that we will go further in this cup competition.”
Mogae said as with any other team, they always look to improve from where they failed in the past and it will be no different as Nico will seek to do better than it did during last season’s edition.
The Nico coach said he expects to have most of his players, including those who got knocks during their encounter with Township Rollers this past week to be available for the game against Centre Chiefs.
The Mascom Top 8 cup will kick off this coming Thursday when Police XI host defending champions BDF XI at Molepolole Sports Complex.
The game will be followed by a clash between Motlakase and Rollers at the Serowe Sports Complex on Friday.
Both games will start at 8 pm. On Saturday, FC Satmos will host Gaborone United and the games will end with the Nico and Centre Chiefs clash on Sunday. Both the weekend games will be hosted in Phikwe and will start at 4pm.
