Cardoso Urges Sundowns To Be At Best Against Dortmund And Fluminense

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso is calling on his players to be at their absolute best, anticipating tough challenges in their next two matches at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

Sundowns kicked off their campaign impressively, defeating Ulsan HD 1-0 at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday night.

This victory propelled them to the top of Group F and made them the only African side among the four participating teams in the expanded tournament to secure an opening win.

In contrast, German giants Borussia Dortmund played to a goalless draw with Brazilian side Fluminense at MetLife Stadium on Tuesday.

Now, Sundowns faces a formidable test against Borussia Dortmund at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati this Saturday (18:00 SA time).

The German side will undoubtedly be looking to ignite their tournament hopes. Following that, Sundowns will conclude their group stage against Fluminense at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on June 25 (21:00).

It’s clear that both Borussia Dortmund and Fluminense will pose a significantly sterner challenge than Ulsan, a match where Sundowns also had two goals by Iqraam Rayners disallowed by VAR in the first half.

This heightened difficulty is why Cardoso is stressing the need for his players to perform at their peak to have a chance of reaching the knockout stages.

“I can confess to you; I didn’t see the game [Borussia Dortmund vs. Fluminense]. My assistants did,” said Cardoso. “I was finalizing the power points for the [pre-match against Ulsan HD] meeting with my players and focused on this game [against Ulsan]. I heard the [Borussia] game was not intense. There are questions too about whether our game was very intense. I am curious to see because as much as we want, the heat and conditions take out the possibility to perform physically.”

He added, “It’s very important that after this victory, we can make the next two games competitive because we are going to play against the best ones now. Fantastic. We are so keen for it.”