Mamelodi Sundowns go into Saturday’s MTN8 final against Orlando Pirates in Durban with a relatively poor record in top eight deciders down the years in a competition that has frustratingly eluded them.
While Pirates aim for an unprecedented fifth title in a row in the competition, Sundowns have plenty of scars down the years, which belies their extraordinary success in league football.
For whatever reason, they have found knockout trophies almost harder to come by, though their can point to their success in the African Champions League final in May when they put a second star over their badge.
Since their first final appearance in the MTN8 competition in 1988, they have been to the decider 11 times but lost seven of those.
Their four victories is the third-highest total in the history of the competition, but well behind Kaizer Chiefs (15) and Pirates (14).
It means Sundowns have won a little over one in three of the finals they have been to, with those successes coming in 1988, 1990, 2007, and most recently 2021.
But even most of those have not been straightforward victories. In 1988, both legs against Arcadia Shepherds ended 1-1, forcing a replay, which Sundowns won 1-0.
In 1990 they brushed aside Wits University to win 2-0 and 3-0 for a 5-0 aggregate success, while in 2007 they edged Pirates 1-0 and in 2021 needed penalties to beat Cape Town City.
You could say there was only one of their previous 11 finals where they really dominated.
Their seven final defeats are the most by any club in the competition; no team has known more heartache in the MTN8.
Four of their finals have gone to penalties, with just that single success against City. They lost shootouts to Chiefs (2001, 2008) and Pirates (2023).
So you have to go back 19 years for Sundowns’ last MTN8 final win in 90 minutes, which is extraordinary given their dominance of local football.
The biggest final loss for the side was a 3-0 defeat to Wits in 2016.