Miguel Cardoso pleased with Khulumani Ndamane instant impact | OneFootball

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Cardoso speaks on Ndamane impact

Photo: sundownsfc.com

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso says he's happy with the instant impact Khulumani Ndamane has made at the heart of defence.

The 21-year-old stalwart joined the defending champions from TS Galaxy last month, but was initially signed in September 2025 and remained on-loan at the Rockets.

Ndamane has fitted in like a glove in the star-studded Downs team, winning the man of the match award in their Betway Premiership win over AmaZulu on Tuesday, much to the delight of Cardoso.

“Ndamane is doing well, I think today [Tuesday] he was very brave in the first half, he was very aggressive on his positioning as a centre-back. Obviously, in a structure where you have three players that are more on the balance of the team and are responsible for the build up - we need both left and right, for him and [Khuliso] Mudau to be more aggressive,” said the Portuguese tactician.

"We spoke about that, so he tried to do what we asked him to do because we knew that there would be a lot of players behind the line of the ball. So, our centre-backs had to be the first ones to provoke players with carrying the ball, being aggressive on their position so that we can take players out and give balls to Tashreeq [Matthews] or to Aubrey [Modiba] on that side with less players to face.

"So, he corresponded, Mudau also corresponded. Those dynamics are dynamics we want to bring more and more in the team. Unfortunately, we don't train a lot, so there are not really sharp and there's little time for them to be, but with time and the games played, probably we'll achieve those intentions. So, I'm pretty happy with him.

Having returned to the summit of the Betway Premiership table, Sundowns host third-placed Sekhukhune United at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Sunday.