Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has opened up on their CAF Champions League quarter-final draw against his former club, Esperance Sportive de Tunis.
Cardoso was in charge of Esperance last season as they finished runners-up in the competition to Al Ahly, eliminating Sundowns in the semi-finals with 1-0 wins home and away.
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It proved to be one of the reasons for the exit of head coach Rulani Mokwena at the end of the 2023/24 season and fast-forward a couple months later, Cardoso replaced Mokwena’s successor Manqoba Mngqithi in the hotseat of the Tshwane giants.
“It was clear that all three teams we could have faced are very strong, I didn’t want to play Pirates because I think it’s much more beautiful for the competition to have a national game, but we make it internationally, it didn’t happen,” Cardoso said.
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“So basically, there were two teams, Esperance or Al Hilal and both of them, different teams, but both strong. Hilal qualified unbelievable, the just lost in the last match, Esperance also were very good in qualifying.
“I think that we got a strong team, but we’re also very strong. So ahead of us, a very nice quarter-final, two matches and details will for sure decided the outcome of the games.
“I hope we can arrive in that moment in the best shape with the best players available, so we can face them with our strongest squad.
“Obviously being aware of the difficulties, I’m aware of the capacity of the opponents and to reach the next round, that’s the objective and what we will focus on at the moment.”
Sundowns host Taraji for the first leg on 2 April and then travel to Tunis for the return leg seven days later.
