Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso will face his former club when the Brazilians travel to Tunis for the first leg of their CAF Champions League semi-final against Esperance Sportive de Tunis on Sunday evening.
The match kicks off at 21h00 (SAST) at the Hamadi Agrebi Stadium in Rades. For Cardoso, the occasion carries personal significance, the Portuguese coach previously worked with Esperance before taking charge at Sundowns, making his return to Tunisia one of the more compelling storylines heading into the tie.
Cardoso, however, was quick to draw a line between sentiment and professional duty ahead of the match – as the targets a third consecutive Champions League final.
“It’s an important moment to come back here, it’s not always the best way you’d like to meet friends, when you meet friends you like to be together, enjoy moments but this is not how we are, as myself a coach of Mamelodi Sundowns,” Cardoso said.
“My concentration is on this pitch, happy to be back in Tunisia with people I had wonderful moments with, but the most important thing is my job, that’s how I have to face and prepare my team for a highly concentrated job. Highly committed with that and it’s an important match.”
The Sundowns coach was also measured in his assessment of what the first leg can realistically deliver, emphasising that the tie is far from over after 90 minutes in North Africa.
“The first of two [legs], nothing will be solved and finished here, we need to understand how best to approach a game that has a special context, special team, special way to play and we will be ready for that,” he added.
Midfielder Katlego ‘Tsiki’ Ntsabeleng echoed that focus, stressing that Sundowns have arrived with a clear mission.
“It’s a semi-final, a big game for both teams, but we have come here with a clear objective and we look to achieve that objective,” Ntsabeleng said.
Two Giants Target And Clear Favouirtes
Sundowns reaching the semi-final having made it four consecutive last-four appearances in the competition; a feat that underlines their consistency among Africa’s elite clubs.
They advanced past Stade Malien on a 3-2 aggregate, relying on their commanding 3-0 first-leg victory in Pretoria after suffering a 2-0 defeat away in Bamako.
Esperance, meanwhile, arrive in formidable form having eliminated record 12-time champions Al Ahly with a dramatic 3-2 victory in Cairo, completing a 4-2 aggregate triumph.
The result made a statement about their continental ambitions and confirmed them as the most dangerous side remaining in the draw.
Sundowns will be without left-back Aubrey Modiba, who is suspended after picking up a red card in the second leg against Stade Malien.
Nuno Santos and Peter Shalulile are also injury doubts, though Brayan León and an in-form Iqraam Rayners provide Cardoso with strong options in attack.
