Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has lost two CAF Champions League finals on the trot, but the Portuguese mentor remains unfazed.

Last season, Cardoso was in charge of Tunisian side Espérance when they went down to Egyptian powerhouse Al Ahly.

This time, Cardoso’s Sundowns team was beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Pyramids of Egypt in the final. He insists it was not for a lack of effort from his men.

“The way we played since I arrived at Sundowns can only make me feel proud,” said Cardoso after the defeat to Pyramids in Cairo on Sunday.

“So the fact that we are not happy, that I’m not happy, doesn’t mean that I’m not proud of everything we did until the moment we arrived at the final.

“I would like to remind everyone that on the way to the final, we played Al Ahly, who are still the first team in the CAF rankings, and we beat them in the semi-final. We played Espérance, and we beat them, and they are second in the CAF rankings,” he continued.

“When we arrived at Sundowns (in December), the team was struggling in order to pass the group stages of the Champions League. We immediately had a very tough game against Raja Casablanca in a very tough group, which also had AS FAR. We were able to make the group stage.

“I mean that throughout the tournament our players were able to show great commitment, great attitude, and also quality, and getting them to the final obviously makes me very proud. The feeling when you play a final and you don’t win—the defeat is obviously very bitter, very disappointing. But as I said before the match, I have a wonderful group of men in my locker room who are at this moment suffering, but they will get up as true champions that they are,” added Cardoso.

Sundowns will shift focus to the FIFA Club World Cup, which kicks off in two weeks in the United States of America (USA).