Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso admitted that the shock defeat against Magesi FC in the Carling Knockout Cup final had a significant emotional impact on his players, which he had to address before their match on Wednesday evening.
Sundowns came back from a goal down to beat the relegation-threatened Magesi side 2-1 in Polokwane at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in a Betway Premiership clash.
In December last year, Magesi caused a massive upset after beating Sundowns 2-1 to win their first cup title in Mangaung, a result that continues to haunt the “Masandawana” players and faithful to date.
The Limpopo side were hoping to cause yet another upset after leading 1-0 for the better part of the Betway Premiership match on Wednesday before Sundowns scored two second-half goals to seal victory.
WHY MIGUEL CARDOSO FEEL THERE WERE TOO MANY EMOTIONS DUE TO A PREVIOUS UPSET
Cardoso says he had to ‘unblock’ his players to forget about the cup final defeat and bring new energy.
“There was a need to overcome some emotions from the Carling Knockout Cup game against Magesi,” said Cardoso.
“Obviously, there were [emotions]. I had to deblock that during half-time. It was important to deblock, and I think that also helped us with energy. Players brought in some new energy.”
MAMELODI SUNDOWNS COACH ADMITS THEY HAD TO GRIND THE RESULTS IN POLOKWANE
“I can confess to you as a coach, it was a very tough game. Not only because we had to think a lot in terms of how to help the players because it’s basically our job as coaches to solve the problems on the pitch.
“They gave the answer to how we changed the game. The players that came in helped a lot and we kept the intensity until the end and got the results we wanted.”
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