Cardoso is champion of Africa [Getty Images]
Portuguese manager Miguel Cardoso is champion of Africa after leading Mamelodi Sundowns to victory in the CAF Champions League final at the weekend.
Cardodo’s side defeated Moroccans AS FAR, also coached by a Portuguese in Alexandre Santos, across the two-legged final. Sundowns won the first leg 1-0 thanks to a stunning free-kick by Aubrey Modiba, before securing a 1-1 draw in the return fixture in Rabat, aided by another superb strike from Teboho Mokoena, which drew them level on the night and 2-1 up on aggregate with an away goals cushion.
The victory is made particularly poignant for Cardoso and his men after they lost the CAF Champions League final last year to Egyptian outfit Pyramids. Sundowns were not to be denied this year, however, with the victory securing only their second triumph in Africa’s premier club competition, having won the trophy ten years ago in 2016.
“It’s a sensation of pride,” Cardoso said in his post-match press conference. “I told the AS FAR coach [Santos] that the last two seasons have been very difficult, when I was on the other side of the result, but it was [our] time. Last year I saw tears on my players faces and we promised each other that there would be tears this year, but rather tears of joy.
“I think you all have the memory of Khuliso Mudau crying, standing on the side in Cairo in that match we played against Pyramids last year. I embraced him and told him we would embrace again next year. Belief is a very important engine and the energy comes from that. That belief should bring together hard work, commitment and capacity to define moments by fine margins.
“In this moment I think about the players, I think about the people that believed in me. I think about the questions I was asked by journalists when I arrived in South Africa in that first press conference, asking ‘what are you doing here, coach? Where did you come from?’
“It’s time also to remember everybody who didn’t believe that we can do it. Now the shirt has a second star. It’s not my star. It’s the star of Mamelodi Sundowns. The belief of the club, the commitment of the club towards a direction. The job has been done in recent years, it’s the work of many people.
“Today I feel proud of my players, I feel proud of my administration, I feel proud of my sports direction, I feel proud of my chairman, I feel proud of all the staff who worked very hard. Lot of emotions, lot of sweat and difficult moments. And a lot of things that we overcame which history should speak and not me. Someone will tell the story one day if they’re brave enough to do it.”
The final saw Cardoso get the better of Alexandre Santos, the Lisbon-born coach of AS FAR, who worked his way up in coaching through Alverca, Real Massamá, Estoril and Sporting’s youth ranks, before moving to Africa in 2020, since when he has won three Angolan league titles with Petro Luanda, as well as guiding Tunisian giant Sfaxien.
“The match was a tough one,” Cardoso emphasised. “Two very strong teams. AS FAR is not a loser today. I said last year that I never felt I was a loser when I didn’t win the final. Two coaches played this final, two staffs, two clubs, two groups of players. All are winners. The difference is one takes the gold medal and the other takes the silver one.
“It’s a hell of a job that was done by everybody. This team was very difficult to beat. We know that playing in Morrocco – and congratulations for the atmosphere in the stadium – was hard. It was a positive of AS FAR, but was in general the level of when you play for such a big trophy.
“I think it was also what happened when we played in Tunisia, in Mali, in Congo, in Uganda. Everywhere we played was respect. It means Africa is going in the right direction. It means CAF is doing a good job. It means we should feel proud to be here today and represent the continent.
“Me myself as a Portuguese, I really feel proud to be among you. Thank you very much for the opportunity.”
Comments raise controversy
The post-match press conference did not end without controversy, as Cardoso took aim at the football authorities in South Africa due to recent fixture congestion, which saw Sundowns play 7 matches in the space of 21 days, leading to the absence of key players for the final.
“I also believe that it’s important, if South Africa wants to have a team again soon or in the near future in the Champions League, it has to change some dynamics, and it’s really important that those dynamics are changed to provide better conditions,” Cardoso said.
“Today, there are three players who are potential Bafana Bafana players who could not play: Thapelo Morena, Aubrey Modiba, Bathusi Aubaas. They are not here because in the last month, they were exposed to something that was not normal. And they also could not play a final.
“They could have been useful today. So, it’s time for people that are in charge of football in South Africa to think really what they want towards the development of football in the country and if they create conditions to really push the teams forward and push this club and help this club. I believe that it’s possible because the club will continue to work hard to lift the level and development.”
The comments did not go down well with Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie, who hit back at Cardoso for the remarks via posts on the social media platform X. “We are happy for Sundowns, but we cannot continuously be told by this coach about how bad our league is run,” McKenzie said. “We, like everyone else, got challenges, but we have the best-run league in Africa. Stop talking down on South Africa. We will write to Sundowns to complain today.”
In another post, McKenzie added: “Listening to Cardoso, the coach of Sundowns, you will think everything is wrong with our league, he says these things without forwarding any proof. We are working very hard to bring in sponsors, and this type of nonsense spewed sets us back tremendously.”
African warrants more respect in Portugal – Cardoso
Cardoso also had strong words for the way African football is covered in his homeland. While stories such as Sundown’s victory are covered in Portugal, the attention given to football across the continent is insufficient according to Cardoso, with his opponent from the final, Santos, agreeing with his countryman.
“I think that the international football [community] in Europe – I can speak especially about Portugal – doesn’t really understand the level of what the CAF Champions League is,” Cardoso said.
“It’s a shame for my country that it doesn’t really understand the dimension of the achievements that some Portuguese coaches have been doing in Africa.
“Even Manuel José is not recognised for the level of the work he did here [4-time CAF Champions League winner with Al Ahly] and it’s an absolute shame. I speak about my own country – my own people – but they prefer to recognise a guy who is able to keep a team from relegation in Spain, France or England rather than to understand the dimension of the achievements in African football.
“I really tell you that I feel very proud to be a Portuguese coach in African football [because of] the experiences that African football has been giving to me, making me grow a lot as a coach, as a human being, as a person that really likes life and appreciates so much the different contexts, the diversity, the culture, the climate, the nature.
“I feel so privileged to be in Africa.”
Santos added to the notion, telling reporters before the final: “In the last few years, some people from Portugal tried to give attention. But we don’t have very many approaches from the media in our country.”
For Cardoso, who made his name with Rio Ave before spells abroad at Nantes, Celta Vigo, AEK Athens and Espérance de Tunis, the trophy has not convinced everyone in South Africa. Demands are high at Sundowns and failure to win domestic trophies is levelled at the Portuguese, but making his side kings of the continent is an honour few managers achieve.
“I remember the people who believed in me,” he declared during an emotional moment at his victorious press conference. “The ones who brought me here. The ones that through my career have been together [with me] and mostly the ones that love me.
“Today I received several messages from my loved ones and they said whatever happened today, the love they had would be the same.
“This changed the way I look at me, not the way they look at me. And that’s what keeps me moving towards the future.”