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Mamelodi Sundowns coach, Miguel Cardoso.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso says the key to navigating criticism during a challenging period at the club was to block out the noise and remain focused on the work behind the scenes.
Speculation over Cardoso’s future intensified in December, with a section of supporters calling for his dismissal amid inconsistent results.
However, the Portuguese mentor, who has since guided Sundowns to back-to-back CAF Champions League finals, believes those calls were nothing more than distractions.
“That kind of people don’t really make my life [harder], I live from the energy of the ones that are important, and, curiously, you say, ‘We didn’t know if you would stay,’ but we all knew that I would stay,” says Cardoso.
He says, “Me, my assistants, my club, my management, my players – we all knew that I would stay. The ones that wanted me out are probably not the ones who have the power and capacity to decide. “But, look, I don’t look at this moment as an individual achievement, I look at it as a club achievement, players’ achievement – this is their job, their work, their high level of commitment, not mine.”
“I just try to facilitate and not complicate anything, and that’s it. I live in peace, I live in a big peace. I’m already 54 [years old], I have to enjoy life,” he adds.
