Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has delivered a verdict on Nuno Santos after the talented midfielder’s brilliant display against Stade Malien in the CAF Champions League on Friday night.
Sundowns secured a dominant 3-0 victory over Malien at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in the quarter-final of the Champions League, putting one foot in the next round of the competition.
The Brazilians stamped their authority as one of the best teams on the African continent, having reached the final of the Champions League last season, where they fell short against Egyptian side Pyramids FC.
Sundowns found the opening goal in the 34th minute with a strike from Bafana Bafana right-back Khuliso Mudau to go into the half-time break leading 1-0. Masandawana scored the other two goals in the second-half through Brayan Leon and Iqraam Rayners.
In both goals in the second stanza, Nuno Santos provided assists with brilliant passes from deep, proving his impressive qualities to locate runners in the box with balls from deep.
The Portuguese star was a constant threat to Malien after finding himself in most of Sundowns’ dangerous attacks. Santos is in his first season with the Brazilians after joining the club at the start of the 2025/26 season as a marquee signing.
WHAT CARDOSO ABOUT THE IMPACT OF NUNO SANTOS
So far, Santos has amassed 27 appearances across all competitions at Sundowns, scoring four goals, and registering eight assists. Following his bright start to life at Downs, Cardoso has revealed that Santos is a player who needs to be in a good emotional space to perform at the best level.
“I think Nuno is a player who needs to be put in the right emotional place to perform at the level that he can perform. Isn’t it the same with all of us?”Cardoso asked.
“Aren’t we people who produce more when we receive love? I can state that for him, but start with Ronwen [Williams] at the back until the players in the front. Obviously, for him [Santos], the reality of South African football was spontaneous. He’s a player who arrived, and in his first match, he got the Man-of-the-Match [award].
“I think what is important, and I spoke about it today [Friday], I stated an expression of a German player that said that probably in some of the [FIFA] World Cups and European cups, German teams didn’t have big names, but they were always a strong team.
“So that’s one of the things I discussed with the team, so that they can face the match as a very strong collective, but it happened that individuals showed themselves, so I’m pretty happy with Nuno, like I am with everyone else, they were all committed.”
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