Miguel Cardoso appointed head coach as Mamelodi Sundowns name new technical team

Miguel De Azevedo Cardoso, the former Esperance de Tunis mentor, has been appointed head coach of Mamelodi Sundowns with immediate effect. In news that had the whole of African football at a standstill, Sundowns announced a new technical team to lead the former CAF Champions League champions.

“The introduction of the new Coaching Technical Team was necessitated by the recent unsatisfactory results despite the commitment of the Sundowns Board to give Manqoba Mngqithi and his Technical Team an opportunity to lead the Club going into the future,” a statement from the Chloorkop-based league champions read.

Thlophi Motsepe, chairman of Mamelodi Sundowns, was at pains to explain how Cardoso and his three assistants are all ready to be on the bench for the upcoming match on Sunday. Normally a head coach has to wait for work permits and other administrative papers. This led to many in the room agreeing that losing to Magesi in the Black Label Knockout final caused Manqoba Mngqithi’s sacking.

“The standard of play and results, including that one, over the past few months have resulted in this change,” Motsepe told a fascinated media entourage at Chloorkop. The home draw against AS Maniema in the Champions League did not help the situation.

The media grapevine is also rife with speculation that the Sundowns hierarchy could have started engaging with Cardoso as far back as April. It was Cardoso who knocked Mamelodi Sundowns out of the Champions League with Rhulani Mokoena being assisted by the now departed Manqoba Mngqithi.

Fabio Fernandes, Pedro Azevedo, and João Araújo will join Steve Komphela and Kennedy Mweene in the new-look technical team.

Miguel Cardoso will obviously have to defend the Betway Premiership, but the main target remains winning the CAF Champions League. Sundowns have two points from two games so far in the group phase.