Cardoso says adaptation challenges contributed to Reisinho’s Mamelodi Sundowns exit

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso believes Miguel Reisinho’s difficulty adapting to life and football in South Africa played a role in the Portuguese midfielder’s departure from the club.

The 27-year-old joined the Tshwane giants at the start of the previous campaign, arriving from Portugal at the same time as compatriot Nuno Santos. While Santos became a more regular member of the team, Reisinho struggled to establish himself in Cardoso’s plans.

Reisinho made 14 appearances in all competitions, scoring two goals and supplying one assist. Mamelodi Sundowns confirmed his exit last week.

Cardoso said a player’s ability to embrace cultural and sporting differences was an important part of succeeding at Masandawana, suggesting Reisinho may not have reached the level of adaptation needed to settle completely.

“Regarding players, you need to be open hearted to adapt to a country that is completely different from you. You need to embrace the difference and enjoy it. I have obviously a lot of experience on being abroad,” he stated.

“I’ve been in Ukraine, I’ve been in France, in Spain, in Greece, in Tunisia, here. I love the difference. I need to accept the difference.

“I need to feel happy that I’m between you. That you are different from me, that you drink and eat different food, you listen to different music, you enjoy different… But I love that. Sometimes I have to take me to some place that I don’t know where I can feel this comfortable because I love that environment.

“But you really need to have that mindset, If you start denying everything, you start denying the music, you don’t dance in the locker room, you start denying the things that are so beautiful in South Africa it will be daily more difficult for you.

“Then the rest will appear because Sundowns never brings a player that has no quality. Never. It’s never happened. He may even not have performed but it’s not because he doesn’t have quality. It’s because the process is taken to the limit in order to be sure that the guy that comes is able to do that.

“And there’s a lot of work also on the profile, how he relates with the people, can he accept? But you never control that limit because it’s not the same to be in France, to go to England or go to Germany or go to Belgium or go to Portugal.

“There are differences but the level of difference is not so impactful. When you come to South Africa it’s quite different. And you know that in Portugal you never play a game in a dry beach, never.

“So the game is much quicker, but also there are other things that here, the rhythm sometimes is very high, because the game is here and there, here and there, here and there. The tempo of the game in Portugal is different.

“So it means that sometimes the profile of a player is obviously suitable or not, but what speaks for a player is what he has here [in the mind]. I’m not saying that Miguel was weak because he was not weak but the level of capacity of adaptation probably came to really make the things [difficult] because then you need to understand that resilience or negativity is very important.

“How am I going to handle one month without playing? And will I be ready to be stronger on the moment of the opportunity or no?”

Cardoso said Sundowns’ recruitment process was designed to assess more than a player’s technical ability. He explained that the club also considers how potential signings relate to others and whether they can accept unfamiliar circumstances.

He contrasted the experience of moving between European countries with the challenge of relocating to South Africa, where the football tempo and daily environment can be significantly different.

The coach also highlighted the need for players to remain mentally prepared during periods without first-team football. In his view, the response to limited opportunities can determine whether a player is ready to take advantage when the next chance arrives.