Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has offered his frank evaluation of Khulumani Ndamane’s debut, providing a closer look at how the defender fared in his first taste in the Brazilians’ backline. The Bafana Bafana international made his first appearance for Masandawana during their Betway Premiership clash against Sekhukhune United on Tuesday night at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
Ndamane, who recently completed a high-profile permanent move from TS Galaxy a couple of weeks ago, was thrust straight into action as Sundowns look to maintain their domestic dominance.
Bafana Ba Style went on to beat Sekhukhune 2-0, courtesy of late goals from Nuno Santos and Brayan León.
MIGUEL CARDOSO REACTS TO KHULUMANI NDAMANE’S DEBUT
Speaking after the match, Cardoso expressed his satisfaction with how the new signing, Ndamane, had integrated into the defensive unit. The Portuguese mentor went on to praise the “fantastic” debut of the 21-year-old, noting that he handled the immense pressure of joining the reigning champions with composure.
Meanwhile, Cardoso highlighted that while Ndamane shone individually, his success was bolstered by the tactical support of his teammates.
“Regarding Ndamane, he is obviously a young player arriving at Sundowns, and he went on the pitch to show a performance that I think was fantastic,” said Cardoso.
“We put him in a comfortable position with the expectations that people have when a new player arrives at a new club. It’s always good to have a great start, but I think his performance was aligned with the other players around him.
“Of course, we brought comfort to them by bringing in Khuliso Mudau and Aubrey Modiba to provide the capacity to protect against the speed of the opponent. Our intention was to empower the team to attack and bring extra energy and new challenges. I think this is a very interesting match to analyse in terms of tactical approach because different things happened from the beginning of the match.”
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