{"id":22166,"date":"2025-08-12T13:13:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T11:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/?p=22166"},"modified":"2026-03-12T10:03:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T08:03:21","slug":"sundowns-coach-urges-team-to-fix-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/sundowns-coach-urges-team-to-fix-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Sundowns\u2019 Cardoso Urges Team to Fix Mistakes and Return Stronger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has challenged his players to respond positively following their frustrating 1-1 draw with Chippa United in the Betway Premiership on Saturday at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-sundowns-cardoso-urges-team-to-fix-mistakes\">Sundowns\u2019 Cardoso Urges Team to Fix Mistakes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Arthur Sales had put the Brazilians in front during the first half, but Khaya Mfecane\u2019s equaliser early in the second half ensured the hosts walked away with a point in a match that was both lively and physically demanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The defending champions will host AmaZulu at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday, aiming to reignite their title defence after being held by the Chilli Boys in Port Elizabeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"gaute-3171616213\" class=\"gaute-inbetween-content gaute-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-not-the-ideal-start\">\u2018Not the ideal start\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While remaining optimistic about turning things around against Usuthu, the 53-year-old Cardoso admitted that dropping points on the opening weekend was not the start they had hoped for in a season where Sundowns are chasing a record-extending ninth consecutive league title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s obviously not the best way to begin the campaign with a draw,\u201d Cardoso said. \u201cWe need to make sure that by the end, we have more points than our rivals. That means learning from this result, correcting mistakes, and building a stronger team for the battles ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After their clash with AmaZulu, Sundowns will shift focus to a high-stakes MTN8 semifinal first-leg encounter against fierce rivals Orlando Pirates at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-ready-for-a-busy-schedule\">Ready for a busy schedule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite uncertainty over the futures of Lucas Ribeiro and Khuliso Mudau, Cardoso expressed confidence that his squad can handle the demands of a hectic early-season calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m used to this tight PSL schedule, and so is the team. We know we have 72 hours to prepare for the next match,\u201d said the former Esp\u00e9rance coach. \u201cA win would have put us in a comfort zone, but we\u2019re not there yet. We\u2019ll handle this situation correctly and come back stronger in the next match.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizen.co.za\/sport\/soccer\/local-soccer\/sundowns-cardoso-lets-resolve-our-issues-and-become-stronger\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Portuguese<\/a> tactician added that the coming weeks will be crucial both on and off the field. \u201cThere\u2019s still a lot to sort out before the transfer window closes. We need to address our issues, grow stronger each day, and continue developing our players. That\u2019s the priority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related article: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/cardoso-believes-mabena-is-ready-to-evolve\/\">Cardoso Believes Mamelodi Sundowns Youngster Mabena Is Ready to Evolve<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has challenged his players to respond positively following their frustrating 1-1 draw with Chippa United in the Betway Premiership on Saturday at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. Sundowns\u2019 Cardoso Urges Team to Fix Mistakes Arthur Sales had put the Brazilians in front during the first half, but Khaya Mfecane\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":22167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has challenged his players to respond positively following their frustrating 1-1 draw with Chippa United in the...","footnotes":""},"categories":[56,64],"tags":[296,360,288],"class_list":{"0":"post-22166","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"category-sports-news","9":"tag-betway-premiership","10":"tag-mamelodi-sundowns","11":"tag-soccer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22166"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22197,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22166\/revisions\/22197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}