“We are absolutely excited about the fact that they are going to the World Cup,” he said.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso is happy to release five of his young players to represent the South African national team at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile.
Kutlwano Letlhaku and Siyabonga Mabena have already established themselves as regulars in Sundowns’ first team this season, while Asekho Tiwani has been out through injury.
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Gomolemo Kekana recently made his senior debut in the 2-0 win over Magesi, with Thato Sibiya the only member of the quintet yet to feature in top-flight action.
Despite Sundowns’ shortage of attacking options, Cardoso says there was never any hesitation in releasing Letlhaku and fan-favourite Mabena join up with Amajita.
“We are absolutely excited about the fact that they are going to the World Cup. For us it’s a pleasure to give players that opportunity, even the ones that are playing in the starting 11, and not be selfish,” he explained.
“We think the experience will bring the players back on a higher level and that’s why they are going. The discussions we had together with Mr Fleming Berg about the development of our players and the board, we decided the boys had to go.
“Maybe we are going to miss them but the question is not about that, it’s about whether other players will raise their levels so that we don’t miss them and that is what is important and the market is still open so we believe that the team will be reinforced.”
Cardoso was speaking after Sundowns produced a spirited fightback to beat Durban City 3-1 in a Betway Premiership encounter at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday.
Joslin Kamatuka had given the visitors an early lead, but goals from Marcelo Allende and Tashreeq Matthews swung the momentum back in the home side’s favour before Iqraam Rayners added a third in the second half to seal the victory.
“In the previous game, we made the mistake that allowed Marumo Gallants to score and in this one we made a mistake that allowed our opponents to score and that sometimes brings some instability within the team,” Cardoso reflected.
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“The story of the game was simple, it was Mamelodi Sundowns trying to score as many goals as they can against a team that is similar to other teams in the PSL.They have players upfront with speed so any moment that we lose concentration, we can suffer from the ball played into space, so it was important to counter-press and control space at the back of the defence.”
