Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso says eliminating champions Al Ahly from the CAF Champions League in Cairo was down to ‘trust’.
Sundowns netted a late equaliser via Yasser Ibrahim’s own goal after waves of attacking pressure, which sent Sundowns into the final on the away goals rule.
Ahly looked to be advancing having scored a stunner through Taher Mohamed in the opening half, but were punished for failing to take control of the game and looking to defend their lead against Masandawana who they have not won in nine games now.
“Trust, trust, no doubt, trust – on the way we have been loving this experience together, trust in the quality in each other, trust in the game plan we developed for the match, trust that even after 1-0 we can score,” Cardoso said.
“Trust that whatever in happened in the past, new history had to be written today and trust in a club that supports and gives is the conditions to work hard, and trust in our families that are at home, that gives us love, our supporters in South Africa, in brotherhood, we trust.”
Cardoso said he wasn’t too surprised by their approach, which undoubtedly irked the home supporters, with 75000 packed inside the Cairo International Stadium as they pelted head coach Marcel Koller with water bottles, whom appears now on the way out of the club.
“I was surprised but I understand [why they were defensive] if you look in the last nine matches, they have not won Sundowns, they had to be careful, we played tight matches, both teams had to take care, conceding a goal could see things fall apart,” he said.
“We knew we had to score just one and that’s why we were protective in defence because we knew one goal could appear any moment, we had to work hard for it. We suffered from a mistake and had to work hard.
“We made a lot of changes to be more aggressive in the second half, lost creativity but more agression. We deserved it, we always believed we could do it.”
