Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has given more insight into why they substituted Khuliso Mudau when they did in their 1-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday.
Mudau had only recently returned from an injury, and Cardoso was asked whether there were any concerns that he had perhaps been brought back too soon. It was just the second start for Mudau in the league in 2025, the last coming in January.
But Cardoso explained that they had always planned to replace Mudau with Thapelo Morena, as they look to manage the condition of their players.
“No, he didn’t come too soon on the match,” Cardoso told the media.
“We knew that we had to substitute him. We knew.
“And also I knew that there were two or three players that eventually I will have to substitute. Lucas Suarez, I was thinking that I would have to take him out.
“(Asekho) Tiwani, was thinking that I will have to take him out. And also, eventually, Jayden (Adams), I will be thinking that I would have to take him out.
“Because we know what we have. We have assessments on their physicality, let’s say, on the data that they produce. And also we have reports, assessments on their condition. No, Mudau made a wonderful recovery.
“From what we saw, it’s nothing special on him. Two or three minutes before he was on the line, beside myself, I asked him, ‘How are you in the moment?’ ‘Good.’ ‘Okay, let’s go for a couple of minutes more,’ but then the players, they also understand right now it’s time to go out, and he protected himself, and I really appreciate that he did so.
“Because then we could put Thapelo (on), but also Thapelo should not play too much, because, as you saw last game, we also took out Thapelo. So now we need to get give rest to both of them, so that we then decide who will play the next match.”
