Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has explained his decision to bench Themba Zwane in the CAF Champions League first-leg match against Pyramids FC.
Sundowns conceded a late goal, resulting in a 1-1 draw with the Egyptian side on Saturday at a packed Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria.
The Tshwane giants had taken the lead through Lucas Ribeiro Costa in the 54th minute. Just when it seemed they might carry a narrow lead into the second-leg, Pyramids equalised through Walid El Karti four minutes into added time.
Sundowns will travel to Cairo next Sunday for the reverse fixture, which will determine the winner of this year’s CAF Champions League.
WHAT MIGUEL CARDOSO SAID ABOUT THEMBA ZWANE…
‘Mshishi’, the most experienced Sundowns player, watched the entire match from the bench. But Cardoso has since revealed that his decision was made to “keep the balance of the team”.
“We manage Themba Zwane like all the other players. Everybody wanted to be part of this match for sure. The decisions we did was in order to keep the balance of the team. We thought [those] were the best ones,” explained Cardoso during the post-match press conference.
“You know, it’s very beautiful football or very ugly at the same time. One second or 10 seconds in the last minute of the game changed the way you all think about us and the decisions that we made.”
Cardoso believes that if the Brazilians had not conceded the late goal, “everyone would have said that the coach was fantastic.” The Portuguese mentor is convinced his team controlled the second-half.
“We are in the judgment according to the results you get. And it was one play, one dangerous action they had in the box because second-half we controlled it, sometimes more with the ball in the first 25 minutes …. or organising ourselves to cope with the conditions that were on the pitch. We suffered on goal and that changed the opinion of everybody.”
He emphasised that they “just have to stay strong and keep the team motivated” as they push for victory in the second-leg. Sundowns are searching for their second star, having won the Champions League in 2016 under Pitso Mosimane.
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