The silence from those who doubted Miguel Cardoso’s credentials as Mamelodi Sundowns head coach is deafening after he guided the club to another Betway Premiership title.
The Brazilians were crowned champions for an eighth straight season on Wednesday night when they ran Chippa United into the ground at the Buffalo City Stadium in East London.
“I know that people were very suspicious when I arrived in this country, I don’t know why. I did not come here to keep it the same,” Cardoso said immediately after the game as he questioned those who doubted his abilities to lead the team.
When Cardoso arrived in South Africa last year, it was a shock as the club had made a good start in the league under Manqoba Mngqithi, now of Golden Arrows. Furthermore, the Portuguese tactician arrived in South Africa having won just one league title in his coaching career.
He won his first title when he guided Esperance to the Tunisian championship during the year he moved to Sundowns, so he was clearly a coach on the up.
When defending Cardoso’s appointment last December, Sundowns chairman Thlopie Motsepe said they had no concerns over his CV, which was seen in some quarters as “underwhelming”.
“Coach Miguel’s CV is one that I think it’s better spoken than read,” Motsepe said then.
“If you had the chance to speak to the coach about his experiences in Rio Ave, in France, when he was at Shakhtar Donestsk, you understand how much he learned and developed, the challenges and improvements he made to those teams,” the chairman said. Mostepe will be feeling vindicated that his gamble has paid off.
After arriving here, Cardoso immediately put doubts about his credentials to bed when Sundowns started registering bigger wins as the team attacking potential was unleashed. In Mngqithi’s era, the club struggled to put teams away and often secured 1-0 and 2-1 victories.
Under Cardoso’s leadership, the team’s 1-0 and 2-1 wins transformed into 3-0 and 4-0 victories. The players were playing with more freedom and the club’s attackers were stretching their legs and putting more chances into the back of the net. “Shoeshine and Piano” was back and Sundowns’ opponents couldn’t cope.
On the continent, it’s been much of the same for Masandawana. Next week, they have a date with Egypt’s Pyramids FC for the CAF Champions League crown. Should they win, it will be another addition to the Portuguese coach’s growing CV.
Cardoso will get another chance to prove his doubters wrong when the undisputed kings of South African football head to the United States to take part in the FIFA Club World Cup. Should they do well there, more plaudits will be coming his way.
So, where are the haters now? Those who doubted him in the beginning should eat some humble pie and come out and tell the world they got it wrong. Cardoso clearly knows what he’s doing, and if South African football does not wake up anytime soon, Sundowns’ dominance of the local game is going to continue well into the future.
IOL Sport
