Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso says not winning the CAF Champions League should not be considered as failure, which is his personal view on life.
Sundowns won the Champions League for the first and last time back in 2016 and fell at the semi-finals last season under then head coach Rulani Mokwena, to current head coach Miguel Cardoso, against Esperance Sportive de Tunis, his former club.
As Cardoso prepares Masandawana to take on the Tunisian champions, with whom he started this season with, he called for more understanding around the competition the club has struggled to win for over a decade now.
“It’s important that people understand, the Champions League or a competition that involves the best club of a continent, in this case CAF, if it would be in Europe, UEFA, brings the best players and teams to compete together,” Cardoso said.
“Obviously in the end there’s two teams who play in the final and only one winner – I don’t feel that teams that don’t win the Champions League, are teams that fail. Last season we didn’t win the Champions League when I was coaching Esperance, but I didn’t feel at all that I failed, or the team failed.
“What I mean is that we know we want to bring something more for this club, we really want to bring something more for this club and we know that everything has been done to have the conditions to succeed in this competition and go as far as possible.
“That’s the spirt we have, the mindset we have, we will fight until the minute 90 or whatever, extra-time in the first and second match and then we will fight, again, again and again with all our energy.
“But it’s important we look at sports in the way that it should be looked, not all the teams that are unsuccessful in the qualifying rounds are bad, a good team will get knocked out, Esperance is a good team with experience in the Champions, as is Sundowns a very good team with players who want to succeed.
“I feel every day, these players have a lot of will to do well in the Champions League because the want to leave mark, we have a group of players who are not young, not old but not young and have experience and will to leave a mark.
“It’s clear that mindset from everyone at the club and we’ll try to be loyal at the wish, to ourselves with the quality we have, so we fight as strong as possible to go far away as possible in the competition.”
When questioned why it shouldn’t be considered a failure as a club that’s main target is to win the continental competition, Cardoso said it’s more of principle of the word ‘failure’ when not being first.
“We’re completely aware of our wishes, desires and intentions and at the same time our capacities,” Cardoso explained.
“What I said regarding succeeding or not succeeding has nothing to do with what we’re facing in our career in Champions League, but in general, in football, how people judge the ones who are not first, as losers.
“It’s not like that, I feel, when my son comes home as second, third or fourth in results in exams at University, I don’t think he’s a loser, that’s what I said, in general society judge the second ones as losers and it’s not right.
“It has nothing to with what we want to do or try to do or demand for ourselves in this competition, of course we want our names in the history of this club, it’s a heritage that is fantastic to leave, it’s what will speak for you one day, what you leave for your family, club for the country, we’re aware of that and willing to do it.
“It’s important to understand last season, details in the semi-final, made Sundowns not make it – small details. So sometimes it’s a thin line of details that makes the result fall for one side or the other.”
