Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has praised Lucas Ribeiro Costa, saying he is on a different planet and deserves to stay at the Tshwane giant for a long time. 

The Brazilian attacker dazzled with his stellar performance in Sundowns’ 3-0 victory against SuperSport United in the Tshwane Derby on Wednesday. 

Ribeiro managed to grab an assist even though he played only 50 minutes as he was saved for Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash game against Orlando Pirates. 

The former SK Beveren player has scored seven goals and provided five assists in 12 games in the Betway Premiership this season. 

On Thursday, Ribeiro walked away with the Betway Premiership goal of the month award for January as he scored a great goal against Magesi. 

 “One of the things I said to Lucas when I arrived here, knowing that he was in good form in the league, was to try to tell him that there are always things that can be done,” said Cardoso. 

“I was trying to make him understand that the ambition he should have to try and develop himself should be present every day in his life. 

“We work hard on the mindset of the players, a lot. We work hard on that, and I think the message is [for all] of the players at Sundowns. With commitment, hard work, a strong mindset on getting better, respect, and waking up every day thinking that this is the day to do my best. 

 “Lucas can go further on. We should profit as much as possible while we can from him, and let’s hope the club can keep him for long because he’s a very important player. He is a player to play at a high level, internationally, no doubt.” 

Ronwen Williams, on the other side, had a stellar year with both Bafana Bafana and his club. “It’s a pleasure obviously for a coach to work with high levels of players,” Cardoso the Portuguese-born coach. 

“I worked hard for many years in my career, trying very hard to be a coach and I was lucky enough to make the steps quickly so that I could work with big players. I think it’s an unbelievable pleasure to work with high-level players because they are doing well at training sessions and also during the matchday. 

“We have good goalkeepers indeed, and Ronwen is one of them. Dennis Onyango has been performing wonderfully this season and I remember in many games was very good. 

“So, Ronwen making this kind of play allows us to press, to make the defenders understand that they can not work very high on the pitch because we can use right-back, left-back, and also a goalkeeper. 

“It’s not something that we usually work on, but it’s something that we highlight when we have chances to make them understand where the position the opponent tries to block. I think we prepare very hard for these moments, and it’s very hard to prepare a game in two days because mental fatigue is very tough.”