Van Rooyen still waiting for Mamelodi Sundowns debut as Cardoso explains decision

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso says Deano Van Rooyen will not be rushed into first-team action as the defender continues to build up his fitness and match readiness.

Van Rooyen joined Sundowns in September after parting ways with Orlando Pirates before the start of the new campaign, but has yet to feature for the reigning champions.

The right-back’s wait has continued despite Sundowns strengthening their options in the position with the arrival of Thabang Matuludi following Van Rooyen’s move to Tshwane. Matuludi has already made several appearances, while Zuko Mdunyelwa is also competing for opportunities.

Cardoso said Van Rooyen had arrived at the club having missed a significant part of pre-season preparation. The coaching staff therefore wanted to ensure he was ready to perform before placing him in the pressure of a competitive match.

“Regarding Deano, you spoke about Deano, he is a player that, when he came to us, he was with a big pause in terms of preparation,” said Cardoso.

“We understand always the moments of the players and we always look to create conditions so that when we expose them to the competition, we don’t give them an environment where he cannot excel or show good things. It’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, an environment of performance, when we don’t feel the player is really ready for that. And he’s arriving on that stage.”

The coach also acknowledged that Van Rooyen faces strong competition for a place in the Sundowns team, with Mdunyelwa already available and Matuludi adapting quickly after joining.

“Obviously, as you may imagine, the competition on the position is quite high. There’s Zuko [Mdunyelwa], Thabang [Matuludi] arrived and he settled very quickly in the team,” Cardoso added.

He said the technical team had not known in advance which of the two new right-backs would adjust most quickly, but Matuludi had initially moved through the process faster.

“That obviously also, we didn’t know how the things were going to be when we brought one and the other. Of course, Thabang picked the pace more quickly. And just the moment, we never know the next moment how it will be.”

Van Rooyen took another step towards his debut by playing in a friendly match on Wednesday. Cardoso was satisfied with the defender’s display and said his progress was encouraging.

“Today [Wednesday] he played in a friendly match. He was quite okay. So we are happy with him at the moment.”