Kaizer Chiefs will have salt added to the wound of their early exit from the Nedbank Cup with their biggest rivals Orlando Pirates presented with a chance to close the trophy gap.
Through the PSL era years, which came into effect just a few years after South African football came to be recognized by FIFA, Chiefs were the dominant club with frequent trophy success.
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However, Mamelodi Sundowns have since elbowed them off the perch through the last decade.
The Brazilians have now lifted 26 trophies since domestic football was repackaged and rebranded into the PSL in August 1996.
Sixteen of those trophies were won in the period since Amakhosi last had a taste of silverware.
Chiefs remain stuck on 20, with their last trophy joy having come via the league title under Stuart Baxter in May 2015.
With the Glamour Boys’ cabinet gathering dust, Pirates have shown interest in following Sundowns past Chiefs.
The Bucs have a count 16 titles in the PSL era years and have won four trophies since Chiefs last had silverware added despite not being perennial hunters.
An opportunity to add number 17 is in the Nedbank Cup – of which they are holders.
Pirates will host lower division club Hungry Lions in the Last 16 on Saturday (18:00) at Orlando Stadium.
“We want to make sure that we can continue defending the trophy that we got one year ago,” points out Jose Riveiro.
If Pirates land the Nedbank Cup this season, then they could possibly also get to 20 like Chiefs as soon as next season if they can win three trophies.
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What hurts for Chiefs is that they now sit on the longest wait for silverware of all the Big Three.
Amakhosi will clock nine years in May and have already surpassed Pirates, whose wait was seven years, while Sundowns came right after six years.
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