CAF CL: Cardoso blames his ‘naive’ stars in Sundowns draw with Al-Hilal

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso insists they should blame themselves following their 2-2 draw with Al-Hilal Omdurman on Friday night.

The two teams met in the CAF Champions League Group C fixture staged at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium. Masandawana, twice, took a lead in critical time but failed to stop the Blue Wave from responding. Spoils were shared, much to the frustration of the home fans in the stadium.

The result means the Brazilians remain top of the pool with five points from three games, the same as the Sudanese outfit, who have an inferior goal difference.

Coach Cardoso believes failure to take the chances as well as naivety in defending cost his team maximum points.

An intense battle in Tshwane. Downs keep their focus as they head to Rwanda next Friday. 🔥

Mamelodi Sundowns (21’ Sales, 64’ Mokoena) 2️⃣➖2️⃣ Al Hilal (15’, 71’ Omer) #Sundowns #TotalEnergiesCAFCL #AreyengMasandawana pic.twitter.com/PAHPz7Mmpe

— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) January 23, 2026

We outplayed them, but…

“Unfortunately, we can only complain about ourselves, so many chances created and we could not score a goal, I think they entered our box two times and scored, very naive situation from our defence, this is the level of football you can’t make these mistakes,” he told the media in his post-match interview.

“We had more than enough chances to finish this game off, and then we need to be clinical in the box. This is a serious responsibility. We outplayed them, had control, and created more than enough to get a victory; there was nothing more to the game other than those situations.

“The team played the way they had to play – we knew we had to be cautious and patient to have the chance to score, we took the lead, and then we conceded [easily] like that,” Cardoso added.

Last season situation was more critical

Cardoso is confident of advancing from the pool despite the draw, insisting last season was worse. Rulani Mokwena’s MC Alger and St Eloi Lupopo of the Democratic Republic of Congo are third and fourth respectively with a point each.

They are set to meet in matchday three meaning points willd efinitely be dropped, which is an advantage to the Brazilians.

“Of course [we’re still top], we have five points, with three games to play. Last season, the situation was more critical,” Cardoso added.

“Nobody can go in front of us, so it’s a tough group with four difficult teams. It would have been important to score those chances today and win; that is what we should have done,” he concluded.