‘There are a lot of things ahead for us and we need to keep the focus and trust each other’

Straight after lifting the MTN8 trophy after victory over Orlando Pirates in Saturday’s final at Moses Mabhida Stadium, Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso turned his attention to the Premiership and Champions League.

He said his players don’t have time to dwell on celebrating their first domestic cup trophy since 2022 because they are back in Durban on Tuesday for an important league match against Richards Bay at the Princess Magogo Stadium.

A win on Tuesday will keep them on top of the Premiership standings, though they will have played one match more than second-placed Pirates.

After the Richards Bay match, Sundowns have a trip to Angola to take on Wiliete Sport Clube to start the defence of their Champions League title in a two-legged tie in the final round before the group stages.

Cardoso advised his players to enjoy the roller-coaster ride and remain humble.

“It is good to have collected two trophies by October, but there are still so many things to play for,” said Cardoso, who has won four trophies with Sundowns including the league in 2024-25, Champions League last season and MTN8 and Fifa Africa-Asia-Pacific Cup this campaign.

“We need to start preparing for our match against Richards Bay and after that we are travelling to Angola for the Champions League.

“It’s a rollercoaster ride but you must enjoy it. We need to have fun while at it and this is what I always tell the players. I tell them that they must not forget to have fun when they play.

“Sometimes we need to take the match by the neck and also enjoy these moments.”

Pirates are in a similar situation as they host TS Galaxy at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday looking for three points to keep pace with Sundowns in the league.

They then travel to Namibia to take on African Stars on Saturday as they continue their mission to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League.

We should be happy to have won two trophies already, but we must be humble enough to know that there is another match in two days

—  Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso

Cardoso said Sundowns have to keep their feet on the ground and continue to be ambitious because the club has set high standards.

“Looking ahead is to be humble. We should be happy to have won two trophies already, but we must be humble enough to know that there is another match in two days.

“There is also a qualifier for the group stages of the Champions League next weekend in Angola. There are a lot of things ahead for us and we need to keep the focus and trust each other.

“These are the values the team has been developing and we must be ambitious. That’s how we can continue to state ourselves in this country where there is difficult competition.”

Cardoso said it was not easy for Downs to plan for the MTN8 final because they had their Bafana Bafana and other national team players for only three days during the preparation period.

Sundowns had Ronwen Williams, Ricardo Goss, Fawaaz Basadien, Thabang Matuludi, Aubrey Modiba, Khuluname Ndamane, Thapelo Morena, Bathusi Aubaas, Teboho Mokoena, Themba Zwane, Tashreeq Matthews, Cassius Mailula and Iqraam Rayners with Bafana. They also had Divine Lunga with Zimbabwe and Denis Onyango with Uganda.

Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou was also not spared. Most of his planning for the final was done without Bafana stars Sipho Chaine, Kamogelo Sebelebele, Lebone Seema, Yanela Mbuthuma and Oswin Appollis. Attacker Gamphani Lungu was away with Zambia.

“We had three days to work with the players who came back from the national team, but most of the preparations for this match had been going on for some time.

“At the same time, I had people working on Richards Bay, so it has been a difficult three weeks in terms of the volume of work.

“It is the experience of the players in managing these kinds of matches.”