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Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso expects a tough Club World Cup, with Fluminense and Borussia Dortmund as favorites from their group.
Mamelodi Sundowns will face an uphill war at Club World Cup. (AFP Photo).
South African football giants Mamelodi Sundowns, a team renowned for dominating possession, may find their ball control significantly challenged at the Club World Cup, says their coach, Miguel Cardoso.
The Pretoria-based team is considered an underdog in Group F, where Fluminense and Borussia Dortmund are the favourites to progress to the knockout stage in the United States, potentially at the expense of Sundowns and South Korea’s Ulsan.
“We are accustomed to controlling matches in the South African league,” said the 53-year-old Portuguese coach, referring to a club that recently clinched its eighth consecutive national championship.
“Our possession can reach 70 per cent, sometimes even more,” he told the South African media before departing for North America with a 26-man team.
“Now we must mentally prepare to adapt to situations where our opponents will dominate possession. I doubt we will be able to control games as we do in South Africa.”
Cardoso highlighted Dortmund as a team that presents a different challenge compared to the opponents Sundowns face domestically and in Africa.
“Dortmund plays a very high-tempo, aggressive style, typical of German football,” said the coach, who has experience working in Portugal, Ukraine, France, Spain, and Greece.
Cardoso moved to Africa in 2024, winning the Tunisian title with Esperance and leading them to the CAF Champions League final, where they lost to Egypt’s Al Ahly.
Sundowns, Al Ahly, Esperance, and Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca, with 20 continental Champions League titles among them, will represent Africa at the revamped 32-team Club World Cup starting June 14.
After an indifferent domestic form led to his dismissal from Esperance in 2024, the Portuguese coach was hired by Sundowns, who had sacked local coach Manqoba Mngqithi after a defeat to minnows Magesi in a knockout competition final.
Cardoso led Sundowns to a league title, but their hopes for a South African double were dashed by a surprise FA Cup semi-final loss to Kaizer Chiefs.
An even greater disappointment came in the Champions League, where Sundowns eliminated Esperance and Al Ahly, only to lose the final to Egypt’s Pyramids, a club competing for only the second time.
“The belief that African clubs lack organisation, especially in defence, is untrue,” insists Cardoso.
However, a series of defensive errors against Pyramids in Pretoria and Cairo cost Sundowns the chance to win the Champions League for the second time since their 2016 triumph.
Lax marking allowed the Pyramids to snatch an added-time equaliser in South Africa and a weak clearance and further poor marking led to the goals that bagged a 2-1 second-leg win for the Egyptians.
Cardoso has selected a diverse squad featuring 20 South Africans, two Brazilians, a Chilean, a Ugandan, a Zimbabwean, and a Namibian.
Reserve goalkeeper Denis Onyango from Uganda is the oldest at 40, while South African winger Kutlwano Letlhaku is the youngest at 19.
First-choice goalkeeper Ronwen Williams saved four penalties in a 2024 Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final shootout against Cape Verde.
Khuliso Mudau is a skilled full-back, Teboho Mokoena is an aggressive midfielder with a powerful shot and Brazilian forward Lucas Ribeiro won the South African league’s Golden Boot last season with 16 goals.
Much South African attention at the Club World Cup will focus on midfielder Themba Zwane, who did not feature in the Champions League final, now aged 35.
Former Sundowns star Joel Masilela was outraged by Zwane’s exclusion.
“He is our Lionel Messi and should have started or come off the bench,” Masilela said.
“Cardoso cost us a Champions League title.”
(with AFP inputs)
- Location :
Johannesburg, South Africa
- First Published:
