Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has provided insight into the three coaches that join him at the club.
Cardoso was unveiled as the new leader of Sundowns to succeed Manqoba Mngqithi who lasted 18 games in charge this season across all competitions.
The former Esperance de Tunis coach faces a mammoth task with the club already in first place but with the mandate to win the league, CAF Champions League and Nedbank Cup.
Once the season is completed, he is expected to lead Sundowns in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup where they were drawn with Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund and Ulsan HD.
And to help him in his new venture, the club confirmed Fabio Fernandes, Pedro Azevedo and João Araújo as his assistant coaches, while Steve Komphela and Kennedy Mweene were retained as senior Coach and goalkeeper coach respectively.
“Fabio Fernandes is my first assistant coach, he’s a friend that developed some time ago when we made a decision to start working together, he has the spirit to follow me on my decisions, even when I was not working and wait for the right opportunity,” he said.
“I believe people here will like his spirit, his attitude, he tries a lot and puts a lot of energy into matches and everything he does, he connects with people, always smiling and very qualified in what he does. He has a large experience in Africa, two AFCON’s with Burkina Faso, and club experience in Africa, which was important when we arrived in Esperance.
“Pedro is someone who also works with me in everything, in tasks in training sessions, he is a multi-tasked person with a lot of experience working in youth teams at FC Porto where many coaches come from.
“He was on the moment of maturity to enter the highest level, so I took him with Esperance for that purpose, I had nine years in Porto, and someone gave me an opportunity to move to Fluminense, with a Portuguese coach and now I knew Pedro was on the level of maturity to have that step and he was important with us last year.
“João Araújo is someone for many years that was saying ‘Miguel, when, when when’ but the when was not happening at the same time, we could not join ourselves in the journey of football before but we shared a lot in the period where we were not working together.
“He had experiences with several teams with a few coaches in Portugal and he was working the last few years at the highest level, before joining me in Esperance, he was working in Braga, one of the best-organised clubs in Portugal.
“He was in the department of analysis, he’s a mind that reads the game, helps me to prepare the work in analysis and helps for strategic preparation for matches. I’m open o working with all staff, but each of them will relate in the club in the different departments.
“It’s not just about the players but the coaches need to also think the same, that’s why I like sharing the democracy [of tasks] so everyone can give his best, it’s my objective.”
