Cardoso criticises ‘horrible’ Buffalo City Stadium pitch after Sundowns draw

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Cardoso has described the playing surface at Buffalo City Stadium as “horrible” after his side scored a last-minute equaliser to draw 1-1 with Chippa United.

Antonio van Wyk struck with the final kick of the match to earn the African champions a point in East London, after Chippa had taken the fixture away from Nelson Mandela Stadium because its pitch was deemed unsuitable.

Cardoso questioned that decision after seeing the condition of the Buffalo City Stadium surface, saying supporters had been denied the quality of match they deserved.

“These fans, they deserved something different. It’s like you invite them to go home and then you give them nothing to eat. Horrible, horrible conditions to play football,” he told SuperSportTV.

The Portuguese coach then compared the situation with Morocco, referring to comments made by South Africa after the World Cup about reducing the distance between the two countries.

“I remember that after the World Cup South Africa said that they would reduce the distance from Morocco, but no, not with these conditions,” he said.

“The distance from Morocco will increase more and more because Morocco understood that conditions to play football bring better games, increase the level of the players and allow the national team to get better.”

Cardoso also said there was significant work ahead for Pitso Mosimane if the country’s leading teams continued to play on pitches of that standard.

“There is a hell of a job for Mr Pitso Mosimane to do in the future, if the best teams play on these pitches. It’s not proper to play football,” he added.

Despite the difficult surface, Sundowns pushed for a victory and were eventually rewarded when Van Wyk found the net in the closing moments.

“We did our best, we fought with all the conditions that we had. I think we were committed to take all three points from here,” said Cardoso.

“For sure, in the end we were rewarded, but the reward came very late, considering what the boys did during the match.”