Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has opened up on Malibongwe Khoza’s remarkable turnaround after the defender was named Man of the Match in their 3-0 win over Siwelele on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old has become an increasingly important figure for the reigning champions, making eight appearances in Sundowns’ opening 10 matches of the season.
That represents a significant change from last campaign, when Khoza made just 10 starts and was even sent to the DStv Diski Challenge squad towards the latter stages of the season to gain playing time.
However, after impressing during pre-season, Khoza has forced his way back into contention under Cardoso and is now competing for places alongside Grant Kekana, Mothobi Mvala, Kegan Johannes, Khulumani Ndamane and the injured Keanu Cupido.
Cardoso revealed the difficult moments Khoza experienced last season before explaining why he believes the young defender is now reaping the rewards of his persistence.
Reaping Rewards For Consistency
“I want you to remember, last year, Mali almost stopped playing and he disappeared… but he didn’t disappear, but was probably getting some more maturity that he needed to now make him better,” Cardoso said.
“Keagan was playing at the beginning of the season consistently and now he’s not in the team, sometimes small details take a player out or put a player in [the starting XI], not because we don’t believe in all of them, we do.”
The Portuguese coach stressed that while Khoza has made significant progress, there is still plenty of room for improvement.
“There’s still growth on Mali, there’s still a lot of growth on Ndamane also, all the young players on the team and on the others that are older there there’s still ambition to try and be better – we are not happy with the moment where we are,” he added.
“We still think we can do more, because even when you make 97 passes out of 100, it doesn’t mean those passes cannot be more forward or more in the right places, or more aggressive, or more… so that passes can give you more.”
Cardoso admitted he was particularly pleased to see Khoza rewarded for his progress with the Man of the Match award, recalling the difficult emotions the defender experienced last season.
“This is the ambition we put in our players, we can be satisfied at the moment, I am pretty satisfied to see him receive Man of the Match, he deserves it, he had tough times last year, tough times – I saw him crying, believe me, I saw him crying,” he said.
“But we always told him that the moments would appear, consistency would speak for him. He started the pre-season this year very well, there was proper energy to come back and we just hope all the players understand because we already discussed this inside the group.”
Trust Factors
The Sundowns coach also highlighted the intense competition within the squad, where players can quickly move between the starting XI and the sidelines.
“We know Sundowns, it’s a very competitive environment, where you can be in but suddenly you can be out. But it’s not on the coach, because they are out now, that one day out of nothing they come in,” Cardoso explained.
“I have trust in them and if they trust me, which is an important value among us, if they trust, I give them the same trust back. We work a lot on showing them the good things, the bad things, when they do well, when they do wrong, what we expect, how they can grow.”
Cardoso believes Khoza and Sundowns’ other young players should continue setting their sights as high as possible, including pushing for Bafana Bafana recognition and eventually moves to bigger leagues.
“That’s why I say there’s still space for progression, a lot of space – if we want him to be on top, at the best, when I look at my players I need to think they can all be the best, candidates for Bafana, they all should be candidates to one day go to a better team,” he said.
“That’s how I see them. Progression, ambition, if they don’t have ambition they will stay where they are. But he’s doing well and I’m happy with his Man of the Match.”