Mamelodi Sundowns chairman Tlhopie Motsepe says it’s special that coach Miguel Cardoso remembers what he said to the coach on his first day at the club.
The Portuguese mentor has delivered a second star for the side in their second attempt at the final in two seasons and personally his third.
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The coach revealed to the media after the team touched down from Morocco where they defeated ASFAR 2-1 on aggregate in the final that Motsepe believed on the first day he’d get them their second African title.
In response, the club boss said for him what stood out about Cardoso on his first day was how he acknowledged other members of the squad, not just the legends but also the youngsters and their potential to achieve big things.
Motsepe added that the coach’s character also showed when the team was going through tough times during this season.
“What I remember about that day was when you spoke to the players,” said the chairman.
“You remembered Kutlwano [Letlhaku]. You pointed out a few of the younger players in the group when you first spoke to them. And everybody knows Ronwen Williams because he’s a South African legend, and also ‘Mshishi’ [Themba Zwane], what he’s done. But when a leader comes for the first time and he acknowledges the different members of the team and he sees the potential in the team, that’s something that is really special, really inspiring.
“And it’s a lesson that we can all learn and we will learn as a football club, to say we have potential, we always believe in ourselves, but it’s not so much to say that the best are going to be the ones that are going to take us over the line. It’s the group, it’s the whole and that’s a story that I think we’re going to be able to tell for many years to come.
“Again, I just want to say thank you very much to our supporters who are with us along the way. It was a very challenging season. We learned a lot about ourselves over the season and that’s what makes this even more sweeter, because that’s truly the test of a sportsman’s character, of an institution’s ability.
“Can you withstand the shakes and the bumps when things get really tough? It’s easy to be a champion when things are going well, and we were grateful for when things were going well, but when things are difficult, how do you respond?
“And I’m very proud to see how we responded and I think this trophy is proof of that type of response and the type of people that we have in this group.”
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