Mamelodi Sundowns defender Zuko Mdunyelwa has clarified a bizarre scene on the bench that involved head coach Miguel Cardoso and right-back Khuliso Mudau during a high-stakes clash against Esperance de Tunis.
The Tshwane giants faced Esperance in the first leg of the CAF Champions League semi-final away from home last Sunday, with both sides eyeing a spot in the final. Sundowns claimed a crucial 1-0 victory against the Tunisian giants to take a massive advantage going into the second leg this coming weekend in Pretoria.
Downs defeated Esperance with a brilliant solitary goal from Brayan Leon, putting one foot in the final of the Champions League. The Brazilians had to dig deep to hold onto their lead against Esperance, who were applying pressure to overturn the scoreline in front of their home fans.
With Sundowns pinned back in their own half, they suffered a blow after highly-rated defender Grant Kekana received a red card in the dying minutes of the game. The red card means that Kekana is on a one-match suspension for the do-or-die second leg at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday.
In the first-leg encounter, after Sundowns were reduced to 10 men, Mudau was captured on camera appearing to instruct the coach to make a substitution to put the game to bed.
WHAT MDUNYELWA SAID ABOUT MUDAU AND CARDOSO’S SCENE ON THE BENCH
The bench moment has since drawn a widespread debate on social media, with other supporters questioning Mudau’s decision to tell the coach how to do his job.
In response to the situation, Mdunyelwa, who was on the bench that day, has revealed that the Bafana Bafana star was merely trying to tell Cardoso what the match needed.
The former Chippa United wing-back further disclosed that the coach is always open to hearing the inputs of the players who are in the game and might have a better view of the match situations.
“We are a team that sometimes the players in the game can read the game better. Our coach is open to hearing what another player has to say,” Mdunyelwa said on Metro FM.
“I was a bit far from the moment, but it was a word of advice [from Mudau to Cardoso] on what the match needed. So I think ‘Sailor’ was trying to imply what should happen and not what social media is saying.
“He [Mudau] was saying to the coach, ‘Let’s close the shop’, basically in simple words, to put it like that.”
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