“This Player Is Ours”: Cardoso Hails Mailula’s Impact Since Sundowns Return
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has praised Cassius Mailula for his positive attitude and commitment since returning to the club, saying the forward has quickly settled into the squad and will get his opportunities to contribute at the right moments.
Mailula has already shown his ability to deliver when it matters. He scored Sundowns’ equaliser in their 1-1 Betway Premiership draw against Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium on Saturday after coming on as a substitute.
The forward also scored a late winner in the MTN8 quarter-final against Polokwane City, further highlighting his importance to the team and his knack for making an impact at crucial moments.
“Cassius is not a youngster,” said Cardoso.
“Cassius is, first of all, a player who showed a lot of intention to come back to the club. As soon as he came and started training, on the first day I said, ‘This player is ours.’
“This clearly shows that the boy feels at home. He shows a lot of energy, commitment and rapport with everybody. So he feels happy, and the best thing in life is when your emotions are positive towards what you do.
“Cassius will surely enter the team at the right moments. He will play sometimes, he will not play sometimes, and he will contribute. That’s the spirit we are growing inside the group.
“Look, Fawaaz played twice; on Saturday, he was not even on the bench. Iqraam started the previous match, started the first one, and was on the bench for the second. He was not here; Aubrey didn’t play, but now he played in the first XI.
“A lot of these things will happen throughout the season because when you play so much, if you look at Kaizer Chiefs, the same thing happened. The players who played in the last match were not even on the bench. Others who were in the first XI are now out.
“Because when you play so much in so few days, you need everybody. The more the players understand the message and cope with it with the right mindset, the better prepared they are to come on and contribute positively.
“Cassius has that mindset, so he will for sure be happy more times than the ones that he was already,” Cardoso added.
Cardoso will be banking on Mailula yet again when they host Marumo Gallants in the Betway Premiership match at Loftus Stadium on Wednesday.
