Sundowns’ Cardoso won’t underestimate Golden Stars

While little-known Sibanye Golden Stars FC from the ABC Motsepe league in the Free State are a closed book to many, Mamelodi Sundowns have already done their homework on the amateur team. 

The third-tier side will make the trip to Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night aiming to produce an unlikely upset against the star-studded Brazilians in the Nedbank Cup round of 32. 

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Stars are partly made out of mineworkers near the Welkom area who double up as part-time footballers. Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso and his technical team have already profiled their opponents. 

“I started preparing for the match and during the last few days, my staff has been working on our opponents. They’re a team that we went to go see live in their last game,” Cardoso said during a press conference on Thursday afternoon. 

“We didn’t have information before but now we’re aware of which kind of team we’re going to play. It’s a match that we have to play with a big respect like all the matches that we play. If we look at where they come from, we can already make a mistake in the way we approach the game.

“We’ll approach the game in a serious way and that’s the only way you can win the tricky matches that cups usually bring so we don’t want to be surprised. I’ll be serious in the way I’ll demand my players to face the game. This is not only respect for our opponents but it’s about respect for ourselves and respect for the competition. It’s a very important competition that we want to … play to win.”

Stars reached this stage of the competition thanks to a 2-1 win over Kimberley Saints in the play-off round last November. Cardoso emphasised the importance of having the right attitude.

“You don’t prepare players for this kind of matches on the day before, you need to prepare the attitude in general and on a regular basis,” he added. 

“That’s what we’ve been doing since we arrived at the club so that we understand that it’s not a matter of who you’re playing against but a matter of how you want to live. It’s about attitude more than the motivation of how to play the match. 

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“I don’t believe in short term motivation and external motivation. I believe in drive and pursuit as the way to live. That’s what we’re trying to build in the locker room in terms of values. If we live according to these values, that’s the way we’re going to behave all the time.”