Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has explained why Bafana Bafana right-back Khuliso Mudau had to slot in as a centre-back late in the Betway Premiership game against Orlando Pirates.
The Tshwane giants succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of their closest rivals at FNB Stadium in Soweto on Sunday afternoon. Relebohile Mofokeng scored two quickfire goals to hand the Buccaneers a morale-boosting win.
Mudau pulled one back in the second half. But in the 69th minute, the Portuguese mentor replaced left-footed centre-back Lucas Suarez with Thapelo Morena.
Morena came on and occupied the right back position, with Mudau moving inside as the right central defender. It meant Grant Kekana had to move to the left side of defence.
Cardoso has since explained his reasoning.
WHY DID KHULISO MUDAU END UP AT CENTRE BACK?
“The thinking was that coach [Jose] Riveiro was making substitutions to have a freshness to deal with these quick attacks,” Riveiro told journalists.
He added that as they sought to impose themselves in search of goals, they needed fresh legs at fullback while also playing with quality in central defence.
“[We needed a] quick player at the back that also can play with quality. We needed two things: a player that could play with quality. So, build up with quality and also a player with speed.
“And with one substitution, we could get both things. I also wanted more freshness on the flank.”
Cardoso acknowledged that bringing on Morena was “not very clever”. He said they were “not very quick on changing from one side to the other side”.
Meanwhile, Sundowns turns his focus to the CAF Champions League. They take on Esperance in the first leg quarterfinal in Pretoria on 1 April. They will visit the Tunisian giants a week later.
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