Cardoso backs Mothiba after Sundowns striker’s costly miss

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has defended Lebo Mothiba after the striker came under scrutiny following the club’s surprise 1-0 defeat by Lamontville Golden Arrows in the MTN8 semi-final first leg.

The Brazilians were beaten by Abafana Bes’thende at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Sunday, leaving Sundowns needing to overturn the deficit in the second leg of the knockout competition.

Mothiba was selected ahead of Brayan Leon but endured a difficult outing. The Bafana Bafana international had a major opportunity to give Sundowns the lead in the 11th minute when he found himself one-on-one, but was unable to convert.

Sede Dion later scored the only goal of the match for Golden Arrows, increasing the attention on Mothiba’s missed chance. Cardoso, however, believes the experienced forward should be given time to regain his sharpness rather than face sustained criticism.

“As a coach, I am trying my best for all players; the coaching staff works very hard showing belief to the players, and you saw how I supported him in a moment that was difficult, because he missed a situation where it could have been a goal,” Cardoso told journalists after the match when asked about Mothiba, and how he’s helping the striker.

The Portuguese coach pointed out that Mothiba’s miss was not the only opportunity Sundowns failed to take during the match. He also recalled a similar period in the career of Lucas Ribeiro, when the Brazilian was criticised for failing to score.

“It was not the only one, there were many throughout the match that didn’t turn into goals.

“Last year or two years ago, I remember a period where Lucas Ribeiro wasn’t scoring goals, and you were always speaking about that, about how he could not score, and I said one day it will come out and be one [goal] after the other, and it happened.”

Cardoso said Mothiba has not regularly been among Sundowns’ first-choice forwards, with Brayan Leon and Iqraam Rayners generally preferred.

“Strikers are a little bit like that, and anyway, Lebo has not been the first option, as you know, Brayan [Leon and Iqraam [Rayners] have been the first options.

“It’s normal when a player doesn’t play so consistently that to come in a match is more difficult to get into a rhythm,” he explained.

The manager added that Mothiba had shown encouraging form in training matches and had responded positively to the responsibility of starting against Golden Arrows.

“Lebo showed good character; he played very well in the training matches, scoring in them, so he gave us all the energy.

Cardoso explained that the decision to divide the playing time between Mothiba and Leon was also influenced by the latter’s workload. Leon had come through a pre-season in which he was unable to train consistently, yet had then played three consecutive matches.

“And as you may understand, Brayan comes from a pre-season where he didn’t have the chance to train consistently and now played three matches in a row.

“So, it was absolutely normal we had to rotate that player because Brayan was too tired; he’s still too tired, as you saw in the second half, you saw he’s not as fresh as we’d like to have him. So the rotation is to do with that, just 45 minutes for each of them.”

Sundowns now have little opportunity to reflect on the MTN8 setback, with their attention turning immediately to the Betway Premiership.

The Brazilians are due to host AmaZulu FC in Pretoria on Wednesday, with the league fixture scheduled to take place at Loftus Versfeld Stadium. Kick-off is set for 19:30.