The new Sundowns coach, Portuguese Miguel Cardoso, who previously managed European clubs such as AEK Athens and Celta Vigo, played his first match with Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday in the CAF Champions League against Raja Casablanca.
After winning 1-0, Cardoso called for consistency and commitment. He stated that this victory would increase the fans’ trust in him. Ahead of Wednesday’s match against strong opponents Stellenbosch in the league, the team gathered morale.
Cardoso made the following statements:
“When you have good grades in school, everybody believes you are a good student, and when you have a good game, I believe you are better, and coaches are even better.”
“We managed the game with many tactical approaches and we took the right decisions, that made us believe in ourselves and the structure, and I felt the commitment from the players from the first day.”
“I understood after studying the club that we are in a big organisation and we need full commitment. This win will reinforce myself in the group, but this is just the starting point and we have so much to do ahead of us, and I am cautious.”
“I don’t put myself too much up when we have won a match because we need a lot of stability even in good moments. Remember I spoke about not only perfection but consistency.”
“So let’s be consistent in our behaviour, in our pattern of living so that we can arrive where we want to go. This was an important win for us, let’s recover and focus on the next match.”
“This group is open and let’s focus on making our best every day, but this was an important win to get at home.”
Reflecting on the match, Cardoso analyzed Raja’s tactics. He mentioned that they had developed a flexible tactical formula, which helped them secure the victory.
“Raja came to this match with a 4-2-2 structure where they pressed over our build-up, but usually, they defend with a 4-1-4-1 block. We had to reorganize ourselves because of that and find a way of how we are going to create opportunities going up the pitch.”
“That’s why we made changes at halftime, and those changes were because we wanted to manage the game, and players who came on showed commitment. I am happy that we changed according to the game, and players gave a reaction to those changes.”