Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso says what he and his side have achieved on the domestic front shouldn’t be taken for granted, however it’s not going to have any bearing in his approach for the CAF Champions League deciding match against Pyramids FC.
The sides meet at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo on Sunday with the score poised at 1-1 from the first leg of the final tie in South Africa last week.
The continental inter-club competition final comes at the back of Sundowns lifting an unprecedented eighth league title with a record 65 goals. They are now in search of a second star having lifted the trophy nine years ago.
They need a win or a draw by more than one goal to be crowned kings of Africa again. Cardoso said the approach is to pay attention to detail, to be aware of the opponent’s qualities all round and not focus on one area as Pyramids is a side capable of scoring anytime just like the Brazilians.
“The way we won the national championship in South Africa this season is something that will stay for history because the best Orlando Pirates of their history stayed 11 points behind us,” said Cardoso at the pre-match press conference.
“We broke all the records in the history or almost all of them. So it’s not a thing that is repeated year after year but that takes or gives nothing to what is going to happen tomorrow. That is another thing.
“Obviously we understand that we didn’t achieve the result we would like to have after the first match. Obviously, we think that we would have played better than we did, but that’s exactly where we stand now, understanding that we can be better, understanding that we have the will, the intention and the quality to make good things tomorrow.
“But we also understand we are playing football against one of the two teams that worked the best in Africa last year. We need to take care of all moments of the game to answer your question.
“It’s not only worrying about the counter-attacks from Pyramids, it’s also worrying about their organized attack, about their set-pieces, because they can score like us from any moment.
“Usually, these games the goals appear on the details, and you saw how the detail in the last seconds of the game gave one goal that was not expected already that moment. Maybe before it wouldn’t be expected but in that moment no one expected it.
“This final or the second match that we’re going to play tomorrow is basically like a final played in Europe. You go to play one match, you have to win it. Tonight we’re going to see Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain play their Champions League in Europe.
“So, it’s one game, who wins is the champion. Tomorrow for is one game who wins is a champion.”
