"It's obvious that the players we have are technically well-developed. They suit the game of a coach who wants to impose himself on the games. That is the base ... to have quality players. I struggled a lot to impose myself in other contexts where the quality could not sustain what I wanted to put on," Cardoso explained.
"I want a team that can control the games. Controlling the games means the team must be solid in all four moments of the match. You must understand very well what to do with the ball."
Cardoso, 52, also warned that there will be no player bigger than the others and that he wants them to play as a collective.
"It's how we can be together. The difficulties will come and we will overcome them when we are together," he said.
"You win on the first day of the week, on the first training of the week and this is the first mentality I will bring to the club. The true winners don't come from perfection, they come from consistency. We need to be ambitious, ambitious is not something you say. It's what you show, it's an attitude. No one kills an attitude, no one. It's impossible."
Sundowns are currently second in Group B with two points after drawing their first two matches, while Raja are yet to win after losing to Morocco's AS FAR before drawing with Maniema Union of DR Congo.
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Raja an acid test for Cardoso
Downs new coach expected to hit the ground running
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As newly appointed Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso prepares for his first match in charge when they host Raja Casablanca in the CAF Champions League Group B at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday (3pm), he will be looking for nothing less than a victory to make a perfect start.
Cardoso will be on the bench on Sunday after the club confirmed he received his work permit hours after he was appointed the new coach on Tuesday.
The Portuguese already knows the Sundowns team after he studied them last season in the Champions League semifinal when he was still with Tunisian giants Esperance, where he guided them to a 2-0 aggregate win.
His immediate task is to guide Masandawana to the final and win it after losing in the semifinals twice in succession. Cardoso has since given a detailed explanation of the philosophy he will be implementing at the club.
"It's obvious that the players we have are technically well-developed. They suit the game of a coach who wants to impose himself on the games. That is the base ... to have quality players. I struggled a lot to impose myself in other contexts where the quality could not sustain what I wanted to put on," Cardoso explained.
"I want a team that can control the games. Controlling the games means the team must be solid in all four moments of the match. You must understand very well what to do with the ball."
Cardoso, 52, also warned that there will be no player bigger than the others and that he wants them to play as a collective.
"It's how we can be together. The difficulties will come and we will overcome them when we are together," he said.
"You win on the first day of the week, on the first training of the week and this is the first mentality I will bring to the club. The true winners don't come from perfection, they come from consistency. We need to be ambitious, ambitious is not something you say. It's what you show, it's an attitude. No one kills an attitude, no one. It's impossible."
Sundowns are currently second in Group B with two points after drawing their first two matches, while Raja are yet to win after losing to Morocco's AS FAR before drawing with Maniema Union of DR Congo.
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