Sekhukhune United captain Linda Mntambo eyes MTN8 glory

LINDA Mntambo was reluctant to spell it out, but the captain of Sekhukhune United clearly believes that this could be the year they win the club their maiden trophy, and his confidence is not without basis.

After all, Ba Bina Noko are coached by a man who knows how to win silverware in Eric Tinkler. And as he looked ahead to Saturday evening’s (6pm kick-off) MTN8 first round clash against TS Galaxy at the Peter Mokaba Stadium, Mntambo exuded confidence that they could be the “Last Team Standing”.

He was initially cautious and spoke about progression past the initial round as their objective given they’d not done so in their previous two appearances.

“This is our third season (playing) in the MTN8 and we never got past the first hurdle, so we just have to go past it and get more games under our belts because the semi-final is two-legged. We must just keep focused and keep doing what we have been doing.”

The former Orlando Pirates midfielder was asked if he doesn’t have ambitions to try and win it.

 “Look, every team in it wants to win it. Our focus is on the job at hand – beating Galaxy and getting past the first hurdle. But yeah, for sure we want to win a trophy or two as players so we can write our names in the history books of the club.”

And it is also a personal ambition of his to lead the club to cup glory.

“It would be nice as captain, I would love to lift the trophy, cement my name – not as a legend – but as the one to have brought a (first) trophy to the club.

"But we are not putting ourselves under pressure, although there are incentives and bonuses with the R10m prize money. We are at doing it and hopefully we are fortunate to get to the final and lift the trophy.”

They have in Tinkler a coach who knows how to win the MTN8 trophy, local football’s famous ginger coach having done so with SuperSport United. Mntambo sees the man who has previously been in charge of Pirates and Cape Town City as their talisman.

“The coach asked us if we want it and as players we were in agreement that we want it for ourselves, our families and our careers. We want to win silverware. And the fact that the coach has won it, yeah, and also we’ve got a number of players who have won this trophy.

"Miguel Timm won it with Pirates and Bradley Grobler with SuperSport and Thabang Monare also. And I have won it too, so we know the feeling. It is the first competition of the season and it takes just three games (to win it). So let’s get past the first hurdle and go on to win it.”

Besides motivating them into dreaming big, Mntambo says Tinkler has also upped their game.

“Coach Eric pays attention to the small, finer details. He is invested in his work and prepares a lot and he he also demands a lot from us at training. He helps us improve individually and also as a club.

"He is always pushing us to play to the best of our abilities. He knows how to win trophies and hopefully he will help us get some silverware.”

For that to happen in the MTN8 though, Sekhukhune United must do something they’d never done in the competition. Go past the first round by beating TS Galaxy this evening.

Linda Mntambo believes they can do that.