After guiding Mamelodi Sundowns to another CAF Champions League semifinal following a 3-2 aggregate win over Stade Malien on Sunday, coach Miguel Cardoso was very pleased as he reached another milestone in continental football.
Despite suffering a 2-0 defeat in Mali on Sunday, Sundowns progressed to the semifinal after winning 3-0 at home in the first leg. They will now face Esperance in the semifinal in what will be Cardoso’s third participation in succession.
He wants to go all the way this time after losing back-to-back finals with Esperance and Sundowns in the past two years.
I’m very happy with the qualification, happy for the club to have another semifinal. For the players to reach the semifinal again, for the fans and all the staff members and everyone
— Coach Miguel Cardoso
“I’m very happy with the qualification, happy for the club to have another semifinal. For the players to reach the semifinal again, for the fans and all the staff members and everyone,” Cardoso told the media during the post-match press conference.
“Obviously, I’m happy for myself. Another semifinal for me makes me very happy as a coach.”
Despite the qualification, Cardoso was not entirely satisfied with the way they lost the match, but took comfort in the fact that Stade Malien had not lost at home in this competition.
The hosts scored twice in the first half through Taddeus Nkeng and Haman Mandjan, but Sundowns’ experience in the second half showed as they managed the game well.
“Well, a lot of emotions in my head at the moment. I’m obviously not happy with the first half,” he said.
“We tried to develop the right attitude coming to this match, a lot of talks, a lot of coaching, a lot of discussions to show and explain to everybody that the job was not done.
“We knew the job was not done, but in the first half, we couldn’t adapt and settled down to the plan to play and it looked easy watching from TV.
“But remember that no one has won here this season and unfortunately, we also suffered a defeat. A result I’m absolutely not happy about, obviously, especially since it comes from the first half, where we were a little bit sloppy in our approach.
“At halftime, we had to correct the attitude. We were back in the game in the second half and we could have scored.”
Sundowns will be without Aubrey Modiba in the semifinal after he was shown a straight red card for a dangerous challenge late in the second half.
Sowetan
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.