Sundowns coach Cardoso pleads for more time to prepare for Champions League matches

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has again called on the PSL to create a conducive environment where the club will have sufficient time to prepare for Champions League matches. 

The Brazilians needed an extra-time goal by Jayden Adams to beat Sekhukhune United 1-0 in their Nedbank Cup quarterfinal match at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Friday to set-up a mouthwatering semifinal clash against Kaizer Chiefs. 

Then they host Tunisian giants Esperance on Tuesday afternoon and Cardoso said it doesn't give them enough time to prepare for a crunch Champions League quarterfinal clash at Loftus. 

“I would like to speak about that because it is important that we make the point on all of these issues and it is not because I am the coach of Mamelodi Sundowns,” he said after the last gasp win over Sekhukhune.

“When we play an international or a Champions League match, we don’t only represent the club but the whole of South Africa. I think it is important that people who run football in South Africa have the capacity to understand we should be provided the best conditions possible to be able to compete. 

“As you know, we are going to face a team where I worked last year and I know how they prepare for the Champions League. Their country does everything so teams play in the best conditions.” 

The last time Esperance played was almost two weeks ago when they drew with JS Omrane in the league and they arrive in the country on Saturday to wrap up their preparations for Tuesday.

“It will be about ten days since they played. Even the Tunisian national team did not have players from Esperance. This has nothing to do with them, it means they didn’t play in the local championship. 

“They travel on Saturday to prepare themselves and we have just played a match for 120 minutes. This match should never have been played today [Friday]. 

“It should have been played when it was supposed to be played. If not, we should have found some other moment to play this match. I think it is important that everybody understands and it is not a matter of being the coach of Sundowns. 

“If it was Orlando Pirates or Stellenbosch, I will say the same because that’s what I think about football. It is important to know when our players return from national duty. 

“We are proud to see them play for Bafana Bafana and doing well, I even had a chance to congratulate the coach [Hugo Broos]. It has nothing to do with the national team, it has to do with the fact that we should already be preparing ourselves for Esperance.” 

In the match against Sekhukhune, Cardoso left national team players Thapelo Morena, Teboho Mokoena, Adams and Peter Shalulile on the bench to manage their workloads but he introduced them in the second half.

“We had to leave some of the players that played for the national team on the bench. I think these clubs that represent South Africa in Caf have been doing a good job for the country.

“It is the club that is going to represent the country at the Club World Cup, this is the club that has won the league seven times and it deserves some consideration from people in charge. 

“This is just a statement about the situation because you asked me and I think it is important to say. In the future provide the best conditions so that South African teams can fight in the best condition possible.

“Everybody will celebrate if one team from South Africa wins the Champions League. In the end, it's the football of the country that is represented abroad and I think the conditions for us to succeed, which I think we will do, are not the best and we will have to manage the preparation in a different way.”