From teacher to coach: Miguel Cardoso’s long walk to glory
Many years ago, before he embarked on his football coaching journey, Miguel Cardoso was a teacher in his homeland, Portugal. Now, on the brink of etching his name in Mamelodi Sundowns’ history, the clean-shaven man shares a touching connection to his past: his wife continues to work as a teacher back home.
Cardoso recently guided Masandawana to their eighth consecutive domestic league title, just five months after arriving in Mzansi to replace Manqoba Mngqithi. Ironically, Mngqithi, now at Lamontville Golden Arrows, also began his teaching career before transitioning to coaching.
Born in Trofa, north of the FC Porto metropolitan area, the 52-year-old educator-turned-tactician stands on the brink of carving another piece of history for himself. He could become the second coach to guide Masandawana to the CAF Champions League glory following Pitso Mosimane’s triumph in 2016.
For the Portuguese, this marks the second consecutive year of winning a domestic league title in Africa and leading a team to the final of the premier interclub competition. “For myself to be playing a second final of capturing the league in two years,” Cardoso told journalists.
“I should feel very proud and very successful. So, I should be happy. Also, I should enjoy the moment. I should live it with pleasure, give all my intensity and joy, but feel that I’m already a winner.”
CARDOSO HAD TO WORK AS A TEACHER “TO EARN A LIVING”
Just days after securing the Betway Premiership title—a similar feat he achieved in Tunisia with Espérance de Tunis exactly a year ago—Cardoso paused to reflect on his long journey. Life hasn’t always been easy for the charismatic coach.
He has faced numerous pressures, juggling his duties as a physical education teacher and later as a school principal, all while striving to make ends meet. Driven by his passion for football, Cardoso balanced his roles by coaching the youth side of FC Porto while teaching physical education at a school in the early 2000s.
“When I finished my graduation at university, I was already working in the youth teams of FC Porto. I was a physical education teacher in school. And then I also became a principal in school because I had to make my life, and I was putting all together the different possibilities,” he explained.
He earned his degree in Physical Education and Sports with a focus on football in 1995 and completed a Master’s in Sports Science in 1998 from the College of Sports Science and Physical Education at the University of Porto.
“I had to earn money to support my life, of course,” added the Brazilians’ mentor, whose coaching career began in 1993 when he took charge of the under-12 team at SC Espinho. He mentioned that his past always reminds him of where he came from, grounding him and helping him live with a sense of simplicity.
Although Cardoso now earns comfortably, allowing him to move beyond his teaching days, the fact that his wife is also a physical education teacher keeps him connected to the profession.
MIGUEL CARDOSO’S IMPACT ALREADY PALPABLE
“I know how her daily life is and how much she gets out of there,” he said. Interestingly, the Sundowns coach has stayed in touch with his university friends. They have a WhatsApp group to update each other about their lives and career achievements. “I have a group on WhatsApp with my colleagues from university where we share each other’s successes. So, I don’t forget the past. I am so proud of where I came from.”
After Porto, he went on to work as a fitness coach at CF Belenenses. He later served as an assistant for teams like Associação Académica de Coimbra, SC Braga, Sporting CP, and Deportivo de La Coruña.
His expertise also extended to managing Shakhtar Donetsk’s under-21 squad before stepping up as an assistant for the first team.
In 2017, Cardoso’s tenure at Rio Ave was marked by unprecedented success, leading the team to a fifth-place finish in the top flight and securing a coveted UEFA Europa League spot. His prowess in the dugout took him to FC Nantes in 2018, followed by a role at RC Celta de Vigo later that year and a brief stint at AEK Athens in 2019.
Despite a challenging return to Rio Ave in early 2021, which saw the team relegated, Cardoso’s resilience never wavered. By January 2024, he was appointed head coach of Espérance Sportive de Tunis, a springboard for his move to South Africa.
Though Cardoso has been with Sundowns for just over five months, his impact is already palpable. Celebrations with players, where he shares a smoking stogie and exchanges heartfelt hugs, reveal his preference for a close, supportive relationship with his troops.
SUNDOWNS STAR THEMBA ZWANE HAILS CARDOSO
Sundowns captain Themba Zwane highlighted how the coach has allowed the team to “play with joy, with a smile.”
“I think the coach just upgraded our play,” the Bafana Bafana midfielder explained. “If you check right now, we rotate the ball very well. We push them to one side, switch the ball and wait for the right moment to penetrate. And we have those runs upfront. I think our play makes us happy as players. We play with joy, with a smile. We enjoy as players.”
But there will be no place for joy and smiles for 90 minutes on Saturday at Versfeld Loftus Stadium in Pretoria. It will be a battle as the South African champions face Egypt’s Pyramids FC. Interestingly, Cardoso keeps referring to the three cup finals he lost. He speaks about the Europa League final when he was assistant coach at SC Braga, which they lost to FC Porto in May 2011.
Then there was the youth league final when he coached the Shakhtar Donetsk Under-19 side against Chelsea in the 2014/15 season. Exactly 12 months ago, he watched as Espérance fell to 12-time African champion Al Ahly. Interestingly, this time around, Sundowns’ progress to the final came at the expense of the Club of the Century.
Could this be the continental title that ‘Don Cardoso’ – the teacher-turned-coach–finally brings home? Only the outcome at the June 30 Stadium–the venue for the second leg in Cairo on Sunday, June 1, 2025, will tell.
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