Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso explained the celebration after Siyabonga Mabena scored the fourth goal against Richards Bay FC in the MTN8 quarterfinal clash.
Mabena returned to the pitch for the first time since October 2024 with the 18-year-old having been out injured and missed almost all of last season including the under-20 AFCON which Amajita won in Morocco. Mabena made his presence felt against Bay as he scored his first goal of the season, making it two goals at Sundowns since gaining promotion to the senior side.
Cardoso explained that it was an emotional moment for the Sundowns team as Mabena returned from a serious injury. The former ES Tunis head coach also mentioned that they had to support all the players that has been injured.
“Last season, when I arrived in the club, we found a very difficult situation that is sometimes almost difficult to find, but it can happen with the injuries to crucial ligaments on the ankle, big injuries,” Cardoso told the media.
“Mothobi [Mvala], we had, we had himself [Mabena], maybe they were four players with big injuries, and we had to support them throughout the season, Rivaldo [Coetzee], and I’m missing one I’m sorry.
“It was a very, very emotional, difficult moment for everybody in the club, because we were watching them fighting to recover throughout. Themba [Zwane] of course, Themba was injured in that moment, so the four of them, and we had to support them permanently and permanently and permanently, and watch them recover, and watch them recover and give them energy, and give them energy. And as you might imagine, for a young player that had just created two goals I think, when he got injured days before, he had made two goals in one match, or he had entered in some match, and has such good performance coming from this team, a lot of emotions, a lot of expectations and we celebrated in order to give that energy to him, so to congratulate him.
“We should, we should understand what the role of a young, young player is, and what the role of a group is when we have young players in terms of supporting them to grow. And also, what is the role of a coach in order to promote young players? Young players will succeed if the teams are strong. It’s easier for them, it’s easier for them to enter contexts like this, because maybe made wonderful things. But he also made mistakes. Also, he played too much for the public, and he cannot do it.
“He will have to learn that he has to make his own decisions and not let himself be influenced by the people that he’s cheering for a dribble or things like that. Football is not played that way, but it’s time for him to try. It’s time for him to try. So that’s how he will learn by watching now in the video what he could have done, and how he did. I’m pretty pleased, obviously, that he entered the game like Kutlwano [Letlhaku] entered the game, like I hope in the future, we can have opportunities for others that are working with us.
“But most of all, it’s important that the team embraces the behaviours and that they embrace the behaviours that we want for the team anyway, putting them inside the pitch allowed us to try something with that we’ve been working for the future, and with the result of three zero, we decided to make it so that’s why you saw [Fawaaz] Basadien on the right hand what he was doing things like this.
“So, opportunity for them. I’m very happy, because I also celebrated in a special way, because the boy needed it and that goes extended to Mothobi, to the temple that recovered last year, and the rival is not here with us, but also for him, that also struggled with injury, a big injury.”
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