Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has suggested his team is not yet ready for “high-demanding” games early in the 2025/26 season.
The Portuguese was speaking after the Brazilians lost on penalties to Orlando Pirates in the semi-finals of the MTN8 in Atteridgeville, Pretoria, over the weekend.
Cardoso argued that Sundowns’ participation in the FIFA 2025 Club World Cup means the reigning Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions did not have enough rest time and also not enough time for their pre-season preparations, in comparison to their rivals.
This is reflected in how Sundowns play, said Cardoso.
“You know how many weeks of preparations Orlando Pirates had? I’m asking you if you have any idea how many weeks of preparation Orlando Pirates had. Do you know how many matches Orlando Pirates has played?” Cardoso asked, responding to a question from the media after their cup elimination.
“We tried, my players tried, but also it’s clear that we saw, on the pitch, an abnormal number of mistakes on simple passing,” continued Cardoso.
“Because of (physical) fatigue, we make much more mistakes. That’s why you didn’t see the same fluidity in our game as usual, which is clear. Not only because it was a very high-demanding game… two very high-demanding matches (against Pirates) from the beginning to the end, where the rhythm was very strong, but also because in the moment, we are not able to do much more than that.
“It’s important to understand we have not many matches played; we have three matches in the league, three matches in the competition (MTN8), and in pre-season we played two matches and Orlando Pirates, while we were playing the (FIFA Club) World Cup, were resting, and then still when we were in the World Cup, Orlando Pirates was already in the preparation for this season,” he pointed out.
“It means that we are a little bit late compared to the other teams, and we know that. We know that we are not in a place to play such (high-demanding) matches, but I don’t think anyone can complain about the effort of my players.”
Cardoso added, “They didn’t rest much, and they didn’t make a lot of preparation, so it means that we are still trying to manage. At the same time, we play very hard matches, and we are still trying to manage even the rest of the players.”
It would be interesting to see how Sundowns fare in another “high-demanding” game when they tackle Kaizer Chiefs on Wednesday, when the two sides meet in a league match at FNB Stadium.
