Victorious Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso is upbeat that they can defeat defending champions and African Club of the Century Al Ahly when they meet in the semi-finals of the Caf Champions League.
The Brazilians have lined-up a tantalising semi-final fixture against the biggest club in the continent after they squeezed past Tunisia’s Esparance in the quarterfinals via an aggregate score of 1-0.
In the first leg played at the Loftus Stadium in Pretoria last week, Sundowns managed to steal a 1-0 victory via the boot of marksman Peter Shalulile. The match was marred by ugly incidents of violence and chaos as the travelling Esperance fans thrashed the stadium and clashed with their Sundowns counterparts.
The PSL champions took the slender lead to the second leg encounter in Tunisia. They almost paid the price with the determined Esperance going for the kill in search of levelling the scoresheet. An Esperance goal was controversially disallowed after consultations with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). The VAR ruled that the goal was off-sides. Sundowns held on, and the game ended 0-0. And Shalulile’s goal in Pretoria was enough to send Masandawana to the last four of the competition.
Ready for Al Ahly
Said Cardoso after the match: “We know about Al Ahly. In the last seven or eight years, they have won lots of Champions League finals. Last year, I also lost to them in the final when I was still coaching Esperance.
“But I think it is possible to beat them. I think we need to play two good games against them. We need to be strong and prepare ourselves in the best way. But we still have the Nedbank Cup this weekend. And that should be our focus right now. It’s going to be a very tough game, and then we will think about Al Ahly aftrewards,” Cardoso added.
Sundowns will face Kaizer Chiefs in the semi-finals of the Nedbank Cup at Loftus on Sunday afternoon at 3pm.
