Cardoso takes heart from Sundowns’ victorious start

New Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso is encouraged with the positive start to his tenure in Tshwane. The Brazilians showed maturity with an assured performance against Raja Casablanca, edging them 1-0 at Loftus Versfeld last Sunday to move to five points after three games.

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The victory puts them back in the hunt for a spot in the knockout phase after a poor start to the Caf Champions League group stages under previous coach Manqoba Mngqithi with two draws.

Sundowns pull the trigger

Masandawana management pulled the trigger by sacking Mngqithi and replacing him with the 52-year-old Portuguese coach who has hit the ground running. 

“It’s not a matter of giving authority but making us believe more and more. When you have a good game … I believe the players are better and the players believe their coaches are even better,” Cardoso said following the win over Casablanca.

“When you manage the game with so many tactical approaches and in the end, do things in the right way, it makes us believe in ourselves and the structure from everybody. The players and I felt that commitment from the very first day and I understood that from the very first day.

“Even though I had studied the club as we’re a big organisation with a big commitment, I felt that every day but there is just a starting point we have so much to do and I’m conscious of that.”

January will prove a defining moment of the coaching changes at Chloorkop with the group stage campaign set to conclude. Masandawana will need to get the better of Casablanca and AS Maniema in back-to-back away fixtures before wrapping up the round robin stage at home to AS FAR looking to secure qualification to the quarterfinals.

Cardoso – ‘We need stability’

“I don’t put myself up too much when we win a game but we need stability. Remember, I spoke about not perfection but consistency so let’s be consistent in our behavior so that we can arrive somewhere,” Cardoso concluded.

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“Today was an important one so let’s recover and focus on the next match. The group stage is completely open so let’s be at our best every day and today was obviously very important to get on that path.”