Cardoso Praises Pirates’ Squad Depth After Loftus Draw
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso appeared to admire Orlando Pirates’ squad depth, noting that the Buccaneers managed to draw against his side despite being without Kamogelo Sebelebele and Relebohile Mofokeng — whom he described as last season’s second-best player.
Sundowns and Pirates could not be separated in a blockbuster Betway Premiership clash at Loftus Stadium on Saturday.
Despite missing Teboho Mokoena through suspension, Sundowns might feel fortunate to have escaped with a point against a Pirates side still searching for their first league win away to the Brazilians since 2018.
Lebone Seema had a golden opportunity to double Pirates’ lead in the second half when he broke through on goal, but Ronwen Williams produced a crucial save at the near post.
Pirates were also without Sebelebele — who scored the last time these two teams met in the MTN8 semifinal in August — for undisclosed reasons.
“What they did in the transfer market makes them much more balanced compared to the past,” said Cardoso.
“Nowadays, they can change players and still maintain pressure on the opposition because of the quality they bring from the bench.
“I’ve only been here for a year, so I don’t know everything, but from what I’ve heard and seen, the club managed to bring real quality into the team.
“I asked my assistant coach and head analyst to list all the players in their squad. Of course, I know the Orlando Pirates team well, but when you see that some players who were key last season aren’t even making the matchday squad, you realise how strong they’ve become.
“They have players like [Tshegofatso] Mabasa, [Thalente] Mbatha, and [Deano] van Rooyen who haven’t featured much. Even Rele [Mofokeng], who was arguably their second-best player last season, hasn’t played regularly. That shows how much depth they now have.
“I’m not saying they are better or worse — those things don’t exist in football. You have to prove it every day. I’m sure Coach [Abdelsam] Ouaddou would have liked to have Mofokeng and Sebelebele available.
“If they weren’t on the bench, it’s because they weren’t available — and that made Pirates slightly weaker. I told my players that if we scored first, Pirates wouldn’t have the weapons to score twice. If we took the game to the later stages, it wouldn’t end like in the MTN8.
“They didn’t have the same attacking energy to threaten us. You saw how they tried to push with Tito [Patrick Maswanganyi] and Sipho [Mbule], but those players can’t exploit spaces the way Mofokeng or Sebelebele can.
“The Pirates coach didn’t have the weapons to make something more powerful. Because the way went behind in some moments in the second half, if he had the bench he would have wanted to have, he could have posed more danger to us than he did. My center backs were getting tired – you saw Keanu Cupido struggling, he struggled in the last match .”
Sundowns opened the scoring through Peter Shalulile in the first half, but the goal was cancelled out by Camren Dansin’s superb strike, ensuring the clash ended in a 1-1 draw.
