Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso feels they are not being supported by the Premier Soccer League by not have equal grounds with Esperance Sportive de Tunis ahead of their 1st leg CAF Champions League quarter-final.
Sundowns went into 120 minutes to beat Sekhukhune United 1-0 last night at the Lucas Masterpeices Moripe Stadium for the quarter-final Nedbank Cup clash that was postponed, and originally meant to be played three weeks ago.
This after the FIFA international break where they bulk of their first team squad were on international duty for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers – and four days before the 1st leg at Loftus Versfeld to face Taraji, who eliminated them in the last-four last season.
Cardoso was in charge of the Tunisian giants as they won 2-0 on aggregate and he says, even then, he suggested that Sundowns didn’t have the same support, the likes of the North African clubs enjoy from their league’s and federations.
“If I was the coach of any team, or any coach playing an international match, champions league match, we represent South Africa, not just the club,” Cardoso said.
“I think it’s important that people who rule the football in South Africa have the capacity to understand that we should be provided the best conditions possible to compete, as you know we will face a team where I worked last year and this season.
“I know how they prepare Champions League, they do everything in the country so the teams in Tunisia can play in the best conditions, they played 10 days ago, even the national team didn’t have Esperance players.
“They had Elias [Mokwana] with the national team of South Africa, Youcef Belaili for the Algeria national team and Konate for the U20 of Côte d’Ivoire, but this has nothing to do with them… they played their last match when we played our last league game.
“They travel on [Saturday] and prepare for the game, while we played a 120 minute match – obviously this match should never have been played today, it should have been played when it was supposed to be played, whatever result we’d get in that moment.
“If not in that moment, we should find another moment, whatever had to happen to the Nedbank Cup competition. I think it’s important everyone understands that, it’s not about being Sundowns, if it was Orlando Pirates, I would say the same, that’s how I think about football.
“If it were Stellenbosch, I would say the same, it’s important that you understand when our players arrived, we were so proud to see them in Bafana playing well, I congratuated the coach, this has nothing to do with the national team but the fact that we should have been preparing ourselves [for Esperance].
“We had to give some time off for players who played in the national team, some on the bench and we had to then submit players to extra-time which should not have been done, because we scored a legal goal in 90 minutes, so it seems there’s something around.
“I saw this before coming to South Africa, this club I represent with great privileged doing great work for South Africa, representing the club abroad, who will participate in the FIFA Club World Cup is a club that is seven times in a row champion of South Africa.”
Cardoso called for all the South African clubs in CAF inter-club competitors to be aided more by scheduling as they could bring success to the country and improve the growing brand by competing for continental honours, as representatives of the PSL.
“It’s a club that deserves some consideration from people in charge, that’s the only thing I’d like to say, it’s important to say, in future give South African teams the best conditions to fight to win something that will be for the country. Everyone will celebrate if a South African team wins the Champions League – it’s the football of the country represented abroad.
“The conditions for us to succeed, despite me believing 100% we will do, are not the best so we will have to manage the preperation in a different way, as from today to Tuesday, with 120 minutes in the legs of some players, they will be conditioned to play. Some will just focus on recovery, so we will lose capacity, it won’t change anything we will be strong on Tuesday.
“But then we have the long trip to Tunisia as you know is a big trip – everyone should be worried about that, PSL, SAFA whoever, they should organise things so that South African teams can compete in the best conditions.”
They will host the Tunisian champions on Tuesday afternoon at Loftus Versfeld (15h00).
