“Not At First Sign Of Shakiness”: Why Thlopie Refused To Sack Cardoso Before Trophy Avalanche
Mamelodi Sundowns chairman Thlopie Motsepe has explained why the club decided not to part ways with Miguel Cardoso after he lost the 2024/25 CAF Champions League final, saying you cannot bring someone in and then let them go at the first sign of shakiness.
In his first season at Sundowns, Cardoso guided the team to the 2025 Champions League final, but they were beaten by Pyramids.
The defeat led to questions over whether the Portuguese tactician was the right man to lead the club, particularly given how long Sundowns had been chasing a second continental title.
However, having taken over from Manqoba Mngqithi, Cardoso redeemed himself the following season by finally delivering the Champions League trophy.
The club’s decision to keep faith in him was further rewarded when he recently guided Sundowns to victory in the FIFA African-Asian-Pacific Cup.
Despite losing the Champions League final, Cardoso had still led Sundowns to the Betway Premiership title, extending their domestic league-winning run to eight consecutive championships. Motsepe believes the coach did not deserve to lose his job at the Tshwane giants.
“An important factor was the feeling that I had to say, ‘Can we really release somebody in this short space, in this bumpy period?’” said Motsepe on the club’s YouTube with sportscaster Robert Marawa.
“He took us to the final of the Champions League, which we hadn’t been in for the past nine years. Can we let go of somebody who allowed our players to express themselves and play with such bravery at the Club World Cup?
“If we are just going through this period right now, football is a passion-driven business. We live and die by the passion of the game.
“I think we are all in this game because of passion. But it’s very important sometimes to be able to remove yourself and assess the bigger picture.”
He continued: “If we let go of coach Miguel, as you say, at that time, who knows if we would have won the Champions League or the African-Asian-Pacific Cup?
“What I did believe in as well at that time was the fact that there was some adjustment that needed to happen. But there were elements that we saw at the Club World Cup that just showed us the ‘shoeshine and piano’ – a Mamelodi Sundowns that was touching something that we hadn’t really touched or embodied before.
“Okay, yes, maybe we weren’t playing as openly as we had done in previous seasons. While we adapted slightly in terms of our openness, we definitely strengthened in terms of our robustness.
“I think that was a beautiful lesson that we had to learn. Champions League after Champions League, when I stepped in, we were getting knocked out in the quarter-finals and semi-finals.
“It wasn’t that we weren’t the better team in those semi-finals or quarter-finals. With due respect to all the teams that beat us, they deserved to go through because they did what needed to be done: put the ball in the back of the net and concede fewer goals than us.
“So, you don’t bring someone in and then, at the first sign of shakiness, let them go – unless the results and the performances are so bad,” Motsepe added.
Cardoso has been in charge of 96 matches for Sundowns, more than he has managed with any other club, winning 62, drawing 21 and losing 13.
