Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso was proud of his team’s display despite losing 4-3 to Borussia Dortmund at the FIFA Club World Cup on Saturday.
The South Africans came away from the game with their heads held high, as they put on an impressive display, unfortunately marred by a few individual errors that allowed the Germans to at one point lead 4-1, despite Sundowns having taken the lead.
But Cardoso said his team played at a very high level, and were never over-awed by a quality team like Dortmund.
“Too many emotions, but two things are in my head, two things that is clear for me,” Cardoso said after the game.
“The first one is that obviously we are not happy, and not being happy is a wonderful sensation.
“This moment means that we competed in the highest level, and you can have the luxury to not feel happy after you play Borussia Dortmund, that’s some strange place to be.
“With big respect for Borussia what I’m saying, but I think it was clear that today, we pushed the level of the game to the maximum, to a highest level, and we could play an open game with with such such a strong opponent.
“It’s important that people understand who is Borussia Dortmund, so that after they really can highlight the quality of game that was played today from Sundowns part. But then we are not happy, of course, despite we are proud.
“I’m very proud of the level of football that the players played. I’m very proud of the resilience they had throughout the game so that we could finish the game playing for a result.”
