Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has made it clear that they want to go all the way and win the Nedbank Cup, banishing the demons of losing the Carling Knockout Cup trophy of November. 

Sundowns lost the Carling to Magesi in October last year under coach Manqoba Mngqithi, which came as a shocker to the club’s management. 

However, the Brazilians have another chance to redeem themselves and destroy those ghosts of the past aside by winning the Nedbank Cup even though it’s still a long way to go. 

Cardoso’s side is set to face the Limpopo ABC Motsepe League side Mpheni Home Defenders in the round of 16 at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Sunday [15:00]. 

“This weekend we have a very important match to play, we just look on the side and everybody needs to understand the responsibility,” Cardoso said. 

“The club already lost in the Carling Knockout final this season, and we have a strong desire to reach the final and then play for the Cup. It will be not easy and we have players that are super overloaded and the risk of injuries is very, very high. 

“It’s also important to understand that you have a big squad but at the moment we have 10 injured players. Sometimes people ask about players who can not even play because they are injured, they don’t play because they are not in good conditions to play. 

“Some of them are not the last stage of recovery.”  

Sundowns also lost the Nedbank Cup trophy last season to Orlando Pirates.  

 On Tuesday, the Brazilians registered their second league loss of the season to imbued  TS Galaxy at Mbombela Stadium. It was Cardoso’s first loss in the league since he assumed the post in December at Sundowns. 

 “You always have to work hard but passion is what can make us achieve the highest results,” Cardoso said. 

“The passion didn’t disappear among the players, staff and the club. So, sometimes games and results can happen like that. Obviously, after we won the game on Saturday against Orlando Pirates, expectations were very high. 

“Immediately after that game I spoke about the importance of the next game, unfortunately, we didn’t get what we expected and it’s not because we didn’t fight, we did fight.”