PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – FEBRUARY 16: Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso during the Nedbank Cup, Last 16 match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Mpheni Home Defenders at Lucas Moripe Stadium on February 16, 2025 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has revealed what he told the players at halftime against Mpheni Home Defenders in the Nedbank Cup.
The Brazilians booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the Nedbank Cup with a 2-0 win on Sunday afternoon.
Read: 10-Man Sundowns Cruise To NBK Cup Quarter-Finals
Both goals came in the first half while Sundowns also had Tashreeq Matthews sent off minutes after the restart.
“(Laughs), that’s a very interesting question and its interesting why because obviously after you score the second goal, the expectations is that you going to finish with a high score and that’s what I told the lads at halftime,” Cardoso told SuperSport after the game.
“We were supposed to take responsibility of scoring more goals, it was obvious that we could’ve even done it in the first half.
“Anyway, we get to the second half and the fact that Tashreeq makes a mistake and gets expelled, our blushes was just to manage the game and that’s what we did.
“I tried as much as possible so to hold the players outside that were more sharp that we didn’t need to put them and put more time on the legs and finish the game, that was the objective.
“Obviously, the strengths and direct were there because we should’ve won by more numbers (goals) but in the end we did the job,” continued the Portuguese.
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