Cardoso promises to stick to Sundowns identity in CAF final
'We will not deny the work that club had been doing and ourselves since we arrived here,' said the Sundowns head coach.
Miguel Cardoso, Head coach of Mamelodi Sundowns during the CAF Champions League press conference at Chloorkop in Johannesburg on 23 May 2025 ©AlcheGreeff/BackpagePix
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has made it clear that his side will not alter their style of play ahead of the CAF Champions League final against Pyramids FC.
The first leg of the highly anticipated clash is set to take place at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon, with the Brazilians entering the contest as slight favourites to lift the continent's most prestigious club title.
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Sundowns are renowned for their attacking brand of football, and Cardoso is determined to stay true to their philosophy. Judging by his remarks on the eve of the game, there will be no compromise to their identity, even with the stakes being raised.
Sundowns' Cardoso – 'I want my players to play with comfort'
'There are details of the match that we always have to adjust considering our opponents but we will not run away from our identity and what we want,' Cardoso said.
'We will not deny the work that club had been doing and ourselves since we arrived here. One thing you need to understand is that I want my players to play with comfort. We prepare a match to win and not to lose because if we prepare the match not to lose it then you lose it. It's up to us, we know the capacity that we have.
'We want to win the match but we need to understand how the opponents can hurt us. The team should play and organise itself while it's playing because sometimes teams get disorganised when they play and in those moments, your opponent can hurt you a lot.'
Looking ahead to the two-legged final, the coach expects a highly intense game, describing it as a 'knife-edge' encounter with both teams aiming to be crowned champions of Africa.
'We have an expression in Portuguese that is a 'knife in the throat' and that means playing with intensity, great will, passion and fighting to the limit for each ball,' Cardoso added.
'The game will be different from the ones we have played because this team is very intense. We should expect less time in the ball and quicker reaction because both games will be like that
'Experienced players'
'It's important for us to understand that from the first minute because that intensity can sometimes be a shock when we start to play but we are speaking about experienced players that we have.
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'That experience helps us cope with the challenges because the match will have different moments and understanding how to play those moments will be key to give us an advantage in the second leg.'
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