Cardoso urges Sundowns to stay hungry despite first-leg advantage

Miguel Cardoso refused to allow celebration to overshadow caution after Mamelodi Sundowns edged FAR Rabat in the first leg of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League final, warning his players that the toughest part of the battle still awaits them in Morocco.

A stunning Aubrey Modiba free-kick handed the South African champions a narrow 1-0 victory at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday, but Sundowns coach Cardoso made it clear afterwards that his side should have returned a far greater reward for their dominance.

While the Pretoria crowd celebrated a precious first-leg lead, Cardoso’s immediate focus shifted to what his players must still do in Rabat if they are to lift Africa’s biggest club prize for the second time in the club’s history.

“Five I think it’s a bit too much and eventually not fair, but yeah, we should’ve scored one more goal and create a little bit better advantage and have one foot in the front,” Cardoso said after the match.

The Portuguese coach believed Sundowns produced enough quality across the 90 minutes to establish a more comfortable cushion before next Sunday’s decisive return leg at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.

Still, Cardoso took encouragement from the composure and authority his side showed against one of the continent’s most organised teams.

“Anyway, we showed we can compete with this team as we compete with any other team,” he added.

Sundowns controlled possession for large periods of the contest and repeatedly pushed FAR Rabat backwards, although they were frustrated by the visitors’ compact defensive shape and dangerous counter-attacking threat.

Brian Leon Muniz squandered the clearest chance of the second half when he fired wide in a one-on-one situation, while Teboho Mokoena struck the post late on with another powerful free-kick.

For Cardoso, those missed opportunities reinforced the importance of maintaining focus and intensity heading into the second leg.

“We need to take the energy into the second match of course so that we can fight for the trophy,” he said.

“We should not drop any kind of energy because we didn’t score, the moment of decisions are upfront and we need to look at the second match.”

The Sundowns coach also warned his players about the atmosphere they can expect in Rabat, where FAR Rabat will attempt to overturn the deficit in front of a passionate home support.

“Be able to close our ears, forget what happens in the stands and play the football we can play whenever in the continent that’s what we need to do,” Cardoso stressed.

Defensively, Sundowns largely succeeded in neutralising FAR Rabat’s attacking transitions, with the Moroccan side struggling to create clear openings despite enjoying more possession during parts of the second half.

Cardoso praised his team’s tactical discipline and defensive organisation, particularly when dealing with transitions and spaces behind the defensive line.

“I think our defensive transition we were in most part of the game ok, we could control the spaces in our defence,” he explained.

The coach admitted, however, that breaking down FAR Rabat consistently was not straightforward because of the way the Moroccan side committed their full-backs forward while remaining disciplined centrally.

“It’s just more our offensive transition. It’s not easy to break this team on counter-attack, break-attacks because their full-back attack a lot,” Cardoso said.

“So, there were not much in terms of spaces. I think we had to manage the ball and take them inside to the other in order to increase and in that moment find spaces.”

Despite failing to extend the advantage, Cardoso was encouraged by the mentality his side displayed throughout the final.

“Here and there were not able but we were in the major part of the game,” he added. “That’s the mentality we need to take in the second match.”