Mamelodi Sundowns head coach, Miguel Cardoso believing that he will win the CAF Champions after qualifying for the knockout stages. Image: Channel Africa.
(The Post News)– Despite finishing as runners-up in their group, Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso says the team is relieved to have advanced to the CAF Champions League knockout stage. After AS FAR equalised late to leap to the top, the Portuguese coach grinned wryly as they celebrated their advance to the continental competition’s quarterfinals on Sunday night.
Dropping points at Loftus created a sad atmosphere, even as Downs continued their record of making it to the final eight in every addition since 2018. Following the 1-1 draw, Cardoso reaffirmed his belief that they were in a challenging group. “We erred.”
“During yesterday’s news conference prior to the game, I informed you that the details would be crucial. We were ready because we understood that players would typically make cutback passes from circumstances where they might advance and into the box, but regrettably, we were unable to control these individuals, and as a result, we suffered,” Cardoso stated.
Cardoso believes that Sundowns should not take competing in the group stage for granted and describes it as positive, as there were concerns about how his team was going to perform since the setting was an uncomfortable one.
Miguel said, “We returned to the competition after defeating Raja in the opening match. The players are happy, and I am too. It is reasonable for an ambitious coach to be a little unhappy when his team loses first place in the standings and concedes a goal 20 minutes from the end of a game in which we had complete control.”
Cardoso thinks the Sundowns players’ deflated exit from the field is the kind of response that will only help them prepare for a more difficult matchup in the following round.”That’s normal for us to feel that way, even myself, but we shouldn’t mistake that for the feeling that we performed poorly—that’s very different. The fact that you are unhappy because you lost a goal, therefore, makes you feel like you lost, but you did not lose,” added the coach.
“There were two outcomes on the table. We received our outcome; we didn’t lose. Everyone asked us to get a result that would get us through the group stages, and now we realise that the teams are all very equal in the next round, so finishing first or second in the end doesn’t really matter,” mentioned the coach.
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