Cardoso claps back at Sundowns fans

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has admitted that the club’s fans are hard to please, despite the team reaching the CAF Champions League final last season.

The Portuguese coach has had a tough start to the 2025/26 season, losing the MTN8 cup to rivals Orlando Pirates in the semi-finals. His league start has also been poor, having just managed five wins in nine Betway Premiership matches.

In recent weeks, there were talks that Cardoso could be axed as Sundowns coach following poor results however the former Esperance de Tunis boss believes his team are on the right track

“I think sometimes people talk too much because of the expectations that they have and not really because they relate with the reality and it’s important that people really relate with reality, and reality is numbers,” he said as per Foot Afrika.

“I invite everybody to check the numbers of the team and check the numbers of the team since we arrived here and check how many times anyone was dominant over Mamelodi Sundowns in terms of capacity to create, to control the game with the ball and capacity to have passes,” Cardoso added.

The Portuguese coach took Masandawana to the FIFA Club World Cup, where they bowed out in the first round. He feels, though, that the Downs faithful are not appreciating the club’s success, especially since his arrival.

“This team last year made the fans feel probably as pleased as they have never been. We broke all records; we just didn’t break the record of goals conceded by one goal. We took the team to the CAF Champions League final after 10 years,” he said.

“The team went to the Club World Cup and probably South Africa saw the best football in the history of the country and the fans are still not happy, it’s because they are very demanding and we will work hard to try to please them as much as possible,” Cardoso on Sundowns supporters.