Cardoso Voices Displeasure With Sundowns Supporters
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso was disappointed not to see the Masandawana faithful fill up Loftus Stadium in their crucial CAF Champions League semi-final first leg clash against Al Ahly on Saturday.
The two sides settled for a share of the spoils in the capital, which further adds an interesting layer to the tie. With all to play for in Cairo next week, the Brazilians will be forced to dig deep away from home, with the second meeting of the tie scheduled on Friday.
Despite not conceding an away goal and the encounter still there for the taking, the Portuguese tactician expressed his dissatisfaction with Sundowns supporters for failing to come out in numbers to back the team in a high-stakes game.
“I’m so happy that our fans helped us, but it’s so sad to see such a beautiful stadium almost empty when you have a semi-final of the Champions League. We should have a full stadium supporting us, giving us the extra energy,” said Cardoso.
“It’s so tough to play these kinds of games, these are the best players in Africa who played this match, and that’s something because sometimes people ask me what’s the difference between North African and South African teams – it’s also because of that [stadium attendance].
“When you’re in Cairo, you have a 90,000-stadium cheering from the first to the last minute, giving energy, whatever happens on the pitch.”
Furthermore, Cardoso urged supporters of other South African representatives in CAF inter-club competitions to rally behind their teams and be the 12th man, stating that continental knockout games need everyone associated with the club to be on their toes.
“Today [Saturday], despite that we felt energy from our fans, we should have a full stadium cheering, a full South Africa in this stadium. And that should happen with Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch matches, and we didn’t [fill the stadium],” the 52-year-old mentor added.
“Unfortunately, I could not look behind, but the stands behind me were okay, but the rest of the stadium was unfortunately not at the level of this game, and that could have also helped us get some energy.
“And it’s important that the next matches we play at home in the championship because we have very tough championship matches ahead, our supporters must come out in numbers and give us the energy we need because to get over these kinds of teams you need everybody to play [their part].”
He continued: “The players, the coaches, the staff, the fans, everybody, but we believe that we’ll cope with the energy that’ll come outside in Cairo.
“The Stadium is huge, but it’s a little bit like in Tunisia, it has running tracks, and our players have such mentality that when you beat them once, you believe you can beat them again, that’s what happened today on the pitch.”
Interestingly, the Egyptian government approved Al Ahly’s request to have a full capacity for the return leg up North, potentially setting up a hostile reception for Cardoso’s charges in what will be the deciding match with a spot in the final on the line.
Pic courtesy of Inja Ka MoyaSnaps
