‘We had many players that had several long-term injuries,’ Cardoso said.
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has urged the club’s demanding supporters to show patience as the PSL pauses for the festive period and Africa Cup of Nations.
Cardoso’s indifferent Sundowns
The Brazilians have endured an indifferent first half of the season, with Orlando Pirates mounting a serious challenge to dethrone the defending champions.
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After 12 matches, Pirates are on top of the Betway Premiership standings with 28 points, two ahead of Sundowns and with a game in hand. Sundowns’ failure from both domestic cup competitions has added to growing frustration among the Masandawana faithful.
The Buccaneers have so far claimed the MTN8 and Carling Knockout while holding slight advantage in the league. The league schedule will only resume once the AFCON wraps up in the third week of January next year where Sundowns will also juggle their CAF Champions League commitments.
Cardoso has pointed to a lengthy injury list among his key players as the primary cause of the side’s inconsistency.
“I’d like the Masandawana family to understand that unfortunately in the last two or three months, we had many players that had several long-term injuries,” Cardoso said.
“Themba Zwane, Thapelo Morena, Fawaaz Basadien, Malibongwe Khoza and others [were injured]. These are national team players and probably because of that [injuries] they were not able to be on the thoughts of the national team head coach for AFCON.
“I would like to give my best wishes to the national team of South Africa. We as Sundowns and I speak for the players, we respect, totally support and we side with the national team of South Africa and we wish them the best at AFCON.”
Sundowns’ AFCON stars
Despite the league break, several Sundowns players will remain in action, with Ronwen Williams, Khuliso Mudau, Aubrey Modiba, Bathusi Aubaas and Teboho Mokoena included in Bafana Bafana’s AFCON squad while Iqraam Rayners has been named as a standby player by Hugo Broos.
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Bafana open their Group B campaign against Angola on December 22, with Egypt and Zimbabwe also in the same group. Sundowns’ continental interest does not end there, as veteran goalkeeper Denis Onyango has been selected for Uganda’s squad ahead of the tournament in Morocco.