Sundowns coach Cardoso seeks to join Africa’s elite coaches

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has shot at African glory as he leads his team into the second leg of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League final against Egypt’s Pyramids FC on Sunday evening in Cairo.

The Portuguese tactician, who guided Sundowns to an impressive showing this season, is hoping to go one step further this time and etch his name alongside the continent’s greatest managers. 

His side played to a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Pretoria, with Lucas Ribeiro’s opener canceled out by a late Walid El Karti header for Pyramids.

Cardoso will now need to mastermind a win or a high-scoring draw at the Air Defense Stadium to deliver Sundowns’ second CAF Champions League title and his first as head coach.

If successful, he will become the second Portuguese coach to lift the prestigious African trophy after legendary Manuel Jose, who won four titles with Al Ahly between 2001 and 2008.

Cardoso’s achievement would further underscore the growing global influence of Portuguese managers, now sought after from various clubs across Africa.

Despite the pedigree of his Croatian counterpart Krunoslav Jurčić, who is seeking to make Pyramids the fourth Egyptian club to win the Champions League, the spotlight remains firmly on Cardoso.

His team knocked out defending champions Al Ahly in the semi-finals, denying Swiss coach Marcel Koller a shot at a third successive crown.

This final is also a personal redemption story for Cardoso. Now, just 90 minutes from the title, he stands on the verge of rewriting Sundowns’ continental story while strengthening the legacy of Portuguese coaches in Africa.

Sundowns’ previous Champions League triumph came under Pitso Mosimane in 2016.

A second title under Cardoso would confirm the club’s rise as a consistent continental powerhouse and place the Portuguese coach in esteemed company on CAF’s coaching wall of fame.