Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has jumped to the defense of attacker Lucas Ribeiro despite the sides defeat to Kaizer Chiefs in the South African Cup competition.
The Brazilian forward scored an own when his outfit succumbed to a 2-1 defeat in the quarterfinals of the Cup competition last week. Sundowns will now focus on the CAF Champions League and Premier League title following their elimination.
Before this game, the 26-year-old had scored an own goal for Orlando Pirates as they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat in the Premiership.
Despite recent errors, coach Cardoso has defended Lucas Ribeiro, “Before any player makes a mistake, I may make many mistakes myself,” he responded.
“The first mistake I make comes from my job of choosing players for the task. I have to select 11. So when I choose 11, there are over 20 who already think that I’ve made a mistake, along with many others who feel the same way.
Talking about football, how it is managed and that as a coach, he makes mistakes, he said: mistakes are part of the game”. “Of course, there are goals that come from something fantastic unrelated to an opponent’s mistake, but most of them result from small things that didn’t happen as they should have. I don’t dwell on the past regarding that. We work to improve. Everybody strives to get better” he concluded.
Ribeiro has scored 13 goals and provided 7 assists from 21 appearances in the South African top-flight.
Mamelodi Sundowns will face Al Ahly in a fiery semi-final that will resonate across the continent and the media.
