Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso will once again be returning to his former club and old stomping ground in Tunis, where they will be facing Esperance de Tunis in the CAF Champions League semi-final first leg tonight at 9pm in Rades.
The reverse fixture will be this coming Saturday at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium, with Cardoso and his side hoping to enter the second leg tie at home with an advantage and book a place in the final once again.
This will be one of those emotional and rare fixtures for Cardoso, as he will be in a position where he has been a hero and a villain for both sides.
Two seasons ago, when he was still the Esperance mentor, Cardoso agonisingly dashed the hopes of Sundowns in the Champions League by knocking them out in the semi-finals of the competition.
Last season, now in the yellow and blue colours of Sundowns, Cardoso orchestrated the heartache of Esperance when his side advanced to the semis of the Champions League with a 1-0 win on aggregate after doing the job in Tshwane through Peter Shalulile’s solitary goal.
“Obviously, there are emotions that come to me in the moment. We performed very well while we were there, but for the moment, my emotions are with Sundowns, and to do well here,” Cardoso said last season.
He will feel the same way this time around, as he will once again be in a familiar territory where he once accumulated success, but with a mission to leave them misery once again.
It must also be mentioned that a lot more will be riding on this game for Cardoso and his troops, as they will be desperate to return to the Champions League final stage and hope to go all the way this time around after being stunned in the final by Egyptian outfit Pyramids FC last season.
The Brazilians will be without their key left-back, Aubrey Modiba, who will miss the encounter through suspension after a red card in the quarter-final second leg against Stade Malien.
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- Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso is returning to his former club Esperance de Tunis.
- The match is the CAF Champions League semi-final first leg.
- The game will take place tonight at 9pm in Rades, Tunis.
- Sundowns will face their former coach’s old team, Esperance de Tunis.
- Full story available in the Sunday World e-edition.
