Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has explained why club captain Themba Zwane was sidelined for their Betway Premiership tie against Chippa United on Wednesday night.
The match between the Chilli Boys and Bafana Ba Style took place at a packed Buffalo City Stadium in East London.
Sundowns secured a 3-0 win over the Gqeberha-based side, thanks to a goal by Iqraam Rayners and Arthur Sales’ brace to earn the Brazilians maximum points away from home.
As a result, Masandawana clinched their eighth consecutive PSL title. Overall, Sundowns have won 15 league titles in the PSL era, surpassing the total of all other teams combined [14].
Zwane returned to action on the 19th of April when Sundowns played to a 0-0 draw with Egyptian giants Al Ahly in their first-leg of the CAF Champions League semi-final encounter at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, after recovering from an Achilles injury which he sustained during Bafana Bafana‘s 2025 AFCON qualifier clash against Congo Brazzaville in October 2024.
MIGUEL CARDOSO ON WHY THEMBA ZWANE DID NOT PLAY AGAINST CHIPPA UNITED
Coach Cardoso revealed that the Buffalo City Stadium had a lot of visible sand and had to protect Zwane, who recently returned from a serious injury.
He emphasised that it was going to be tricky for ‘Mshishi’ to play at a pitch with such conditions.
“Well, yesterday [referring to Tuesday], Chippa United were very kind to allow us to have a small training session here [Buffalo City Stadium]. It’s a beautiful stadium, and we had a training session because we travelled early in the morning,” Cardoso told SuperSport TV.
“We also had the chance to understand that there’s a lot of sand on the pitch, which was visible to everybody. So, I decided not to risk Themba [Zwane]. You know Themba is coming back from an Achilles injury, which was quite severe.
“So, it can be very tricky for him to play on a pitch with these kinds of conditions. Such beautiful stadiums, I’m sure they will have a beautiful football ambience.
“It’s really important to protect the players in order to avoid injuries, and Themba had a particular situation where he is coming back from injury and is getting better and getting playing minutes. I believe he expected to find a way to play today [referring to Wednesday], for sure, but everybody has to understand that my job is to protect my players.”
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