Comment by Matshelane Mamabolo
MIGUEL Cardoso talked a good game when he was introduced as the new coach of Mamelodi Sundowns on Tuesday.
He looked the part too – a navy suit with a white shirt, dressed down in white designer sneakers, making him fit the bill of a man to lead Bafana Ba Style.
Damn, he exuded confidence as well, right from the moment when he greeted the gathered media in the local Zulu language – “Sawubona” – to when he shared his desire to be “a winner” with the Brazilians.
Just on those factors, there can be no denying that the South African champions have hired a man with a personality befitting of the club.
Football, though, is way much more than that. Personalities are, of course, a factor in helping a coach get through to not only his players, but it also helps endear you to the crowd.
But at the end of the day, it is all about the results. As a former Sundowns coach and multiple South African championship winner Gordon Igesund liked to say: “There’s no room for comments in the results column.”
Cardoso would do well to quickly learn this much if he is to fulfil his expressed desire to join the likes of Pitso Mosimane and Rulani Mokwena as legends of the club.
The 52-year-old Portuguese gave the impression that he is yet to cotton on to the fact that at the elite level of the game, the only currency for success is trophies.
Well, Mr Cardoso, at Sundowns, the currency is not just trophies, but a particular trophy – the CAF Champions League silverware that you came so close to winning last season when you took Esperance to the final.
Going through the paces with some new faces 👀💪#Sundowns #TotalEnergiesCAFCL #RabatsenaGape pic.twitter.com/d1KVLeAqHk
— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) December 11, 2024
Your assertion that we should judge you on the matches you won to get the Blood and Gold into the finale is not going to cut the mustard – not when you are in charge of a team that have previously won the whole thing and been to the penultimate stage in the last two years.
Sundowns have the star players and all the financial muscle a coach needs to be successful, and you just need to deliver.
After all, you have replaced a coach who clearly understood that nothing less than Champions League glory would do.
That he was sent out to pasture to make way for you suggests the powers-that-be at Chloorkop believe you are a better coach.
You have to prove that much, and there surely cannot be any “I’m still acclimatising” excuses, right?
There are still a lot of matches – four – in the group stages for Sundowns to progress to the quarter-finals from whence they have to get to the penultimate stage.
And having already been to the final, a coach as driven and ambitious as Cardoso comes across as someone for whom the next goal must be winning the damn thing.
Talk about aligned ambitions, because that is exactly what Sundowns need – to be crowned continental champions a second time, after following up the 2016 success with near-hits of getting to the semis.
And the fact he already has a work permit is confirmation that the club have been chasing after his signature for a while, with technical director Flemming Berg’s comments giving the impression that Sundowns coveted Cardoso since that semi-final clash against Esperance.
He will be on the bench against Raja Casablanca in Pretoria on Sunday (3pm kick-off), and nothing less than a victory will endear the Portuguese with a shiny head to Masandawana.
Miguel Cardoso talked a good game at Chloorkop on Tuesday. He better deliver a good, winning game at Loftus – nothing less.