Letsholonyane is preparing for his fifth final and is hoping that he will lift the trophy for a third time in his career, when Matsatsantsa take on Cape Town City at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.
During his time at Kaizer Chiefs, ‘Yeye’ scored the winning spot kick in the penalty shootout of the inaugural MTN8 competition against Mamelodi Sundowns in 2008 and played a key role in Amakhosi’s success in 2014, when they edged Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates thanks to a winner from skipper Tefu Mashamaite.
He was on the losing side when Pirates beat Chiefs 1-0 in 2011 and when Roger de Sa’s young Ajax Cape Town side stunned Amakhosi in 2015.
At the age of 35, Letsholonyane is still hungry to win trophies, which is why he was happy to join SuperSport, a club known for doing well in knockout competitions.
Since arriving at Matsatsantsa last season, Letsholonyane has already played in two cup finals and is heading into a third, after the recent Nedbank Cup success in Durban, where they play the MTN8 final against the Citizens.
“Me joining SuperSport was not just to add numbers. I wanted to carry on with the momentum of winning trophies [after leaving Chiefs],” the midfielder tells snl24.com/kickoff.
“Last season, with the help of the coach [Stuart Baxter] and the technical team, we managed to win the Nedbank Cup and unfortunately we lost the Telkom Knockout [to City]
“Already this season, with [the] help of our new coach [Eric Tinkler] we are in the final of the MTN8. For me it’s about staying hungry and wanting to contribute as much as possible to the team’s success.”
Letsholonyane, who admits playing City won’t be easy, is impressed with the work Citizens coach Benni McCarthy is doing. In just a short space of time, McCarthy has reached his first cup final as head coach in the PSL and is getting the best out of a group of players who seem hungry to play for him.
“I must commend him for doing a great job. He got opportunity to coach a good team like Cape Town City and they are getting results. They are a difficult team to play against at the moment because they are playing well.”