Miguel Cardoso explains reason behind Mamelodi Sundowns’ slow start | OneFootball

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Cardoso dissects Sundowns' slow star to the new season

Photo: Veli Nhlapo

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has shed light on the reason behind the Brazilians’ slow start to the 2025/26 campaign.

Masandawana have drawn two of their first five Betway Premiership outings against Chippa United on the opening day and in-form Kaizer Chiefs, while winning the other ties.

Cardoso’s men are in third place on the log standings, having accumulated 11 points. Moreover, Downs were eliminated from the MTN8 in the semi-final stage by Orlando Pirates.

With the club’s supporters expressing their discontent over the team’s perceived decline, the Portugues mentor suggests the FIFA Club World Cup took a toll on his team.

“No one in South Africa has ever experienced what we are experiencing at the moment and that’s why I speak about how strong we are inside the club because we knew how it’s going to be. We knew the moment we would have to face,” said Cardoso.

“Obviously that playing a semi-final of the MTN8 against Pirates takes us to the limits even before because if the draw had been our friend, we could have taken, even before, with all due respect, we could have taken Sekhukhune or probably we could have also taken Stellies.

“But we took [Pirates], we played Pirates two times, we played Chiefs away, that was a match we were obliged to change as a fixture for the away match because we had no stadium available for the match and then we still had to play Stellenbosch away.

“So, obviously that for the moment it’s only this. In the middle of all these matches we played Magesi and Richards Bay. This is the moment we will always have to face and that’s why I am always speaking about that we are strong enough.

He continued: “We don’t need the people from the outside [media], they are just trying to destabilize because when people don’t understand that the influence from the outside on the team and try to create noise around – it just makes us stronger because we become stronger, that’s the nature of Mamelodi Sundowns.