Cardoso urges Sundowns to move on after Champions League exit

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso says his side must respond quickly after their unexpected CAF Champions League elimination, insisting “disaster is another thing in life”.

The Brazilians’ title defence ended on Friday night when they were knocked out by Wiliete SC on the away-goal rule after a 1-1 draw at Loftus Versfeld. Sundowns failed to reach the group stages and will not have the opportunity to defend the trophy they won previously.

Cardoso accepted responsibility for the result, saying Sundowns had been in control for much of the match and created enough opportunities to secure their progress.

“It’s obviously difficult to express anything when you don’t qualify for the group stages and you cannot even proceed in the competition and defend the title,” Cardoso told SABC Sport.

“But we just can look at ourselves. I think besides one goal, one shot from the first half there is nothing from Wiliete in this match.

“The goal they score is a pass from our own striker. We had so many chances, we can only complain on us, it’s a very tough night, very difficult moment.”

The coach also rejected the suggestion that Sundowns had eased off during the decisive stages of the game. Instead, he said his players had struggled to manage their emotions after conceding.

“We didn’t take our foot off the pedal. It’s not a matter of taking the foot off the pedal. It’s more about how you dealt with the emotions,” he said.

Cardoso said Sundowns had enough time to recover after Wiliete scored, but were unable to maintain the composure required to find another goal.

“We can only complain on us on what we could have done. The game was so simple to close it but we let the energy not go in the right direction and after we suffered the goal, still 40 minutes to play and we let emotions take control of us and not play in the most clever way.”

Sundowns must now turn their attention to domestic football, with the Carling Knockout next on their schedule on Tuesday night.

Cardoso described the defeat as a particularly difficult setback but called on his players to focus immediately on the competitions still available to them.

“It’s a very tough result, disaster is another thing in life,” he added.

“The only way is to move forward. There is competitions to win, very quickly we have to turn over.

“Obviously it’s a tough one and fortunately a lot of losses we had, but nothing to complain. Just look forward and win.”