Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has broken his silence on the viral incident involving defender Khuliso Mudau appearing to advise him on substitutions during their CAF Champions League semi-final first leg against Espérance de Tunis in Radès last Sunday.
After Sundowns were reduced to 10 men following Grant Kekana’s red card, Mudau was captured on camera appearing to instruct Cardoso to make a substitution to put the game to bed. The moment quickly spread across social media, sparking widespread debate about a player overstepping his boundaries with his coach.
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But Cardoso, speaking ahead of Saturday’s second leg at Loftus Versfeld, was unapologetic about the nature of the exchange – framing it instead as a reflection of the open, collaborative culture he has built at Chloorkop.
“As much as players play the game and understand the game they are playing, the best the coach can do is be helped inside the pitch – all strategies we define, the way we play, some decisions on the evolution of the team, how you want the team to grow, the problems we having, and how we want to solve them – it’s all discussed,” he said.
“The way a team plays has to do with the culture of the club, the capacities of the players, the intentions everyone has and also the profile of the coach — that’s why usually the biggest teams try to select coaches that are more aligned with the vision of football they have for their club, and then things flow quickly.”
Cardoso confirmed that the substitutions made in the closing stages of the first leg were pre-planned, but explained the chaos that followed Kekana’s dismissal forced a rapid rethink – and that Mudau, as the player physically closest to the bench, was part of that real-time conversation.
“The substitutions we did were naturally already planned, considering the context we had, but understanding the mindset of the players towards the changes we do is important to know. You saw me speaking many times for Ronwen and Tebza, with Khuliso because he is closer to the bench,” he continued to explain.
“But also you need to understand the moments and the impact of the substitution he’s going to do. You saw we were doing three substitutions and there was a red card for Grant – we were bringing on Iqraam, so there were more changes.”
With Sundowns suddenly down to 10 men and needing to manage the closing stages plus extra time against a pressing Espérance side, Cardoso explained the entire tactical approach had to be restructured on the fly.
“And then we had to correct things in that moment, because we had to change the whole approach. It’s completely different to lose a centre-back when you want to make changes – then you still need to handle five minutes plus extra-time, and they would put numbers in attack. So, there’s a lot of things to do.”
Mudau’s Input Acknowledged
At the heart of Cardoso’s reaction to Mudau’s input was a concern about mentality. He did not want his players to shift into a purely defensive mindset, even in the most pressured moments of the tie.
“What a coach doesn’t want, when he brings in extra players in defence, is that the team develops a sense of protecting the goal. Because having a player like Aubaas, or playing with three centre-backs, doesn’t mean you have to defend — it means you are more robust in defensive moments.
“But when you have the ball, you can play your way with the ball. Having the ball is the best way to defend — there’s no other way. But yes, it’s true — Mudau said, ‘Coach, maybe this for this moment,’ and I just rushed, because what I didn’t want to create was the sense of protecting too early.
“Because when it’s done for five or ten minutes, it’s different from defending for 20 minutes — you get more exposed to balls delivered in the box. So, we should know how to defend the match, which is having the ball and controlling the ball as much as possible.”
Cardoso acknowledged, however, that there are scenarios where conventional defensive organisation is unavoidable.
“But if you cannot, because the other guys are putting in the attacks and you have one less player, then you need to manage other ways to defend. The team did well, the communication was perfect — and that’s how a coach has to know how to listen to the team. It was perfect communication, and my decision of course.”
Fellow defender Zuko Mdunyelwa, who was on the bench during the first leg, had earlier corroborated Cardoso’s account, revealing that Mudau was simply communicating what the match needed in that moment, and that the coach actively welcomes player input.
Sundowns claimed a 1-0 victory in Radès — their first-ever win on Espérance’s home ground — courtesy of a 51st-minute header from Colombian forward Brayan León, who ghosted between two defenders to convert Thapelo Morena’s volleyed cross.
The result leaves the Brazilians with one foot in a second successive CAF Champions League final ahead of Saturday’s second leg in Pretoria.
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