Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has rejected the notion off the field issues are affecting their performances at the start of the 2025/26 season.
Sundowns kicked off the season with a victory over Richards Bay in the MTN8, but then dropped two points in their league opener against Chippa United.
It was followed up by two successive league wins, but also an elimination from the MTN8 after a 2-2 aggregate draw and losing 4-1 on penalties on Saturday afternoon at Lucas Moripe Stadium.
“We risked the match against Magesi by not lining up some of the [key] players, not me but you and the fans in general think are the stronger ones, because for me the stronger ones are the ones who are playing,” Cardoso said.
“But I think that has nothing to do what’s happening, because it’s not happening inside the club, it’s happening outside, inside is nothing – we’re in peace, we enjoy everyday, we don’t have problems, the food is there for breakfast and lunch.
“The pitches are okay, we train, there’s no issues, everything is normal, we’re calm, the players arrive as normal in the morning, and we just work thinking about who we have and we don’t relate with those questions.
“Political issues, the board, the Chairman, and the board, the Sporting Director of course, me and the players we work where we are, where we want to be, which is our opponent, we study, we define a plan – and we’ve been doing very well.
“We saw after 10 minutes, it’s what we predicted, and we controlled it, we were okay – we controlled the things that we could, the agression but I felt more active and stressed than usual – it has to do with that. We should be doing more than what we’ve been doing.
“That fluidity of movement, the dynamic movements, Allende and Mokoena, when you don’t have that, the ball doesn’t circulate the way we want, we lose more balls and then you saying this guy is destroying the team – no we’re buudling strong. And this moment will help us build character.”
Sundowns now turn their attention back to the league when the travel to face Kaizer Chiefs on Wednesday at FNB Stadium.
