Cardoso urges Van Rooyen to stay patient as Sundowns opportunity nears

Deano van Rooyen’s wait for his official Mamelodi Sundowns debut is set to continue, but coach Miguel Cardoso believes the former Orlando Pirates defender is edging closer to his chance.

Van Rooyen joined Sundowns as a free agent after leaving Orlando Pirates. Competition for the right-back position increased soon afterwards when Bafana Bafana defender Thabang Matuludi moved to the Tshwane club.

Matuludi has made an immediate impression. He provided assists in the FIFA African-Asian Pacific Cup match against Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia and in the MTN8 final, where his contribution helped Teboho Mokoena score the winning goal against Orlando Pirates.

The former Polokwane City player then opened his Sundowns account with two goals in the 2-0 victory over Durban City in the Betway Premiership last weekend.

Matuludi is currently ahead of Van Rooyen in the selection order, although Sundowns are expected to give their new signing an opportunity to demonstrate his ability in the first team. In the meantime, the former Stellenbosch FC captain has been using friendly matches to build his fitness.

“Deano is a player that when he came to us, there was a big pause in terms of preparation. We understand the moments of the players, and we always look to create conditions when we expose them to competition; we don’t give them an environment where he cannot excel or show good things,” Cardoso told the media earlier this week.

“That’s our way of thinking about the players. We don’t expose players to a public environment because a football game is a public environment. It’s an environment of performance, when we feel a player is not really ready for that. He is arriving on that stage.”

Cardoso said Van Rooyen and the other players waiting for opportunities must remain confident in the knowledge that they have the coach’s backing.

The Portuguese manager also stressed that the competition for places is not limited to Van Rooyen and Zuko, with Matuludi’s rapid adaptation giving him an early advantage.

“As you can imagine, the competition for the position is quite high. Not only him and Zuko. Thabang arrived and settled very quickly in the team. We didn’t know how things were going to be when we brought one and the other. Of course, Thabang picked up the pace more quickly. They know the coach trusts them. They just have to have the resilience and the spirit to wait for the moment when the opportunity will appear,” Cardoso said.

Sundowns reached the semi-finals of the Carling Knockout Cup and will next face reigning Confederation Cup champions USM Alger in the CAF Super Cup at Loftus Stadium on Sunday.