Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has revealed what he told his players during a pep-talk in their 1-0 Betway Premiership win over Kaizer Chiefs at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria on Saturday afternoon.
The Portuguese coach said he told his players to play as a team and have the courage to defend against Chiefs during the Betway Premiership game.
“The schedule that we have been having doesn’t allow us to put on the pitch the best football we would like to play,” Cardoso said.
“Chiefs arrived with a very strong intensity; trying to hurt us in our defence with long balls. It was a very demanding game for our defenders. It was clear from my part that the players were tired so we had to change the structure twice. We had to make tactical adjustments and substitutions to keep the team together and cope with the defensive moments. We defended well the moment we had to defend. I think we could have scored more goals. Chiefs also had their moments but we defended very well.”
Cardoso, whose Sundowns are now eighteen points clear of closest contenders Orlando Pirates, disclosed his half-time tactical talk that won the game.
“I told the guys that we needed two things—trust and courage. Trust each other and have the courage to play this match. I also told them that it was the team that was going to win today. Today is the work of the team. It is a fantastic victory.”
Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi felt his side deserved at least a point from the game.
“Congratulations to Mamelodi Sundowns for the three points. It is unfortunate that we lost. I think we didn’t deserve to lose this game, at least we needed to get a tie seeing the number of opportunities we created but this is football.”
The Glamour Boys have now lost seven times in 19 league games comprising seven wins and four draws.
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