Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso feels his team is still miles away from challenging for the CAF Champions League despite being joint top of their group.
Sundowns needed an Iqraam Rayners goal to secure a 1-0 win over Morocco’s Raja Casablanca on Sunday, their first win in the group, in what was Cardoso’s maiden match in charge.
The victory has taken the Brazilians to five points from three matches, same as Morocco’s FAR Rabat, but the Portuguese coach feels they still need a lot to emerge from the group, which also has Congolese side Maniema Union on three points, and Raja on one.
What did Cardoso make of his team?
“I believe now we are more comfortable but still a lot to go. This will be a very open group, a very tough one,” Cardoso told SABC after the match, adding that his side were a bit anxious.
“We know our responsibility but we know how tough it will be so today [Sunday, a win] was important. Also, difficult to manage, I felt a little bit anxiety, a lot to work [on] in the future. We need to grow a lot but happy for the commitment. That is the base for that growth.
“So, congratulations to the boys and our fans. The sky's the limit and I believe hard work can pay off but we need a lot to grow and obviously, not everything was perfect, many things that we can do better. We need time and to have more time is to keep on winning.”
Downs coach lauds second half subs
Sundowns struggled to break their opponents in the first half before Rayners broke Raja’s resistance in the 65th minute and the goal came after some second half substitutions that saw them improve.
Kutlwano Letlhaku and Peter Shalulile were the new introductions after the break who helped change the momentum of the game and Cardoso explained why he was compelled to make the changes.
“Very important to manage the game. At halftime, we understood we had to change the structure a little bit. It gave us something and then we tried to regain balance and manage the time,” he added.
Sundowns will now shift their focus to the PSL with a match against Stellenbosch FC lined up on Wednesday December 18.
