‘Sometimes you think you’ll play a team that doesn’t have a [big] name but when you play them away, it becomes so difficult,’ Cardoso warned.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso believes his side will face a sterner test in the group stages of the CAF Champions League after comfortably dispatching Remo Stars 7-1 on aggregate to reach the next round.
Cardoso caution
The Brazilians head into the group phase with confidence but also caution, as Cardoso reminded his players of how quickly fortunes can shift in Africa’s premier club competition.
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Last season, Sundowns cruised past Mbabane Swallows 8-0 over two legs to qualify for the group stage but were drawn into a tough pool alongside Moroccan powerhouses AS FAR and Raja Casablanca, as well as DR Congo’s Maniema Union. Their campaign nearly ended prematurely after two opening draws against Maniema and AS FAR before a late surge saw them advance.
“Sometimes you think you’ll play a team that doesn’t have a [big] name but when you play them away, it becomes so difficult,” Cardoso warned.
“I would like people to remember that last year, the worst team theoretically was Maniema Union and we played a draw in the first match at home and it made it difficult on what will happen throughout the competition, especially when we had AS FAR and Raja Casablanca in the group.
“You remember with me that with five minutes left against Maniema, we were losing 1-0 and we were out of the group stages but Peter Shalulile scored two goals and we went through. We played the decisive match at home to AS FAR, a draw which was enough for us to go through.”
The draw for the group stage will take place on November 3 in Johannesburg, with Sundowns the only South African club left in the competition after Orlando Pirates were knocked out by St Éloi Lupopo.
‘Very tricky’
“I expect a draw that can be very tricky, as I see big teams that are powerful and are impactful,” Cardoso concluded.
“There are also teams that don’t have (big) names but they are tricky to play, especially away, so we need to take competition seriously. To play in the Champions League, you need to bring the level of your game to the maximum and (still) raise it.”
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Meanwhile, Kaizer Chiefs and Stellenbosch FC are also through to the group stages of CAF’s second-tier competition, the Confederation Cup. All sixteen winners from the qualifying rounds of both competitions will be drawn into four groups of four teams.