Mamelodi Sundowns News Today: Goalkeeping dilemma, Cardoso’s Mourinho comparisons & transfers

Latest on Mamelodi Sundowns, including their goalkeeping headache and why coach Miguel Cardoso is being compared to Jose Mourinho.

Sundowns face tough call between the sticks

Mamelodi Sundowns are heading into the 2026/27 season with a major decision to make in goal, with head coach Miguel Cardoso facing a genuine selection dilemma as pre-season gets under way.

Sundowns boast one of the most experienced goalkeeping departments in South African football, led by Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams alongside veteran Ugandan Denis Onyango, Reyaad Pieterse and Jody February. Ricardo Goss, who returned from his loan at Siwelele FC, is also part of the squad.

However, age is becoming a factor that Cardoso can no longer ignore. Williams is 34, the same age as Pieterse, while Onyango turns 41 this year. With the CAF Champions League to defend and a Betway Premiership title to reclaim from Orlando Pirates, the question of who starts between the sticks will have significant consequences.

Cardoso has previously indicated he awaits updates from the medical team before confirming his first-choice goalkeeper, showing how carefully the Portuguese coach manages this position. According to FARPost, the decision going into the new campaign is a difficult one, with the technical team weighing experience against freshness as Masandawana plot another continental challenge.

Cardoso’s Mourinho traits praised

Former Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates player Brian Mathe has drawn a striking comparison between Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso and one of football’s most decorated tacticians.

Cardoso, 54, steered Sundowns to their second African title in 10 years, defeating ASFAR of Morocco 2-1 on aggregate in the CAF Champions League final. It was the Portuguese mentor’s third consecutive final appearance, having also reached the decider two seasons ago before being edged by Egyptian side Pyramids.

Mathe told iDiski Times that despite Cardoso’s very public complaints about the domestic schedule throughout the campaign, the coach never lost sight of what mattered most.

“I thought it was a Jose Mourinho kind of thing, because he was moaning about everything,” Mathe said. “You guys don’t support us. You guys don’t like us. You guys don’t do this thing.”

Yet Mathe was full of admiration for how Cardoso channelled that pressure. “What was impressive was that he stayed focused on the project. And sometimes smart coaches do those things, ruffle feathers, say this and say that. He’ll say all of these things but still get his boys to focus on the project. And for me, I look at it and I say, what a coach that Sundowns have.”