Miguel Cardoso admitted Mamelodi Sundowns were left fighting an uphill battle in their CAF Super Cup defeat to USM Alger, pointing to a series of unfortunate pre-match events, injuries and difficult playing conditions as factors behind Sunday’s disappointment.
The Brazilians suffered a 3-1 defeat at Loftus Versfeld, missing out on continental silverware after a difficult afternoon that saw Nuno Santos injured during the warm-up and striker Brayan León stretchered off just 14 minutes into the contest.
For Cardoso, the combination of setbacks made it an unusually difficult occasion for his side, although he acknowledged that defensive mistakes also contributed to the result.
“Yes, a very uncharacteristic match since the beginning. If you want to speak about what happened before the match you’ll never believe,” the Sundowns coach told SABC Sport.
“Of course, there are a few mistakes, a lot of mistakes, mostly on the goals. We made mistakes.”
READ: Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso still mulling over starting 11 ahead of CAF Super Cup
The Portuguese coach was particularly frustrated by losing León so early, having already been forced to adjust his starting line-up before kick-off.
“It’s not easy to come with, on the warm-up, prepare the match and suffer a loss of a player that is a key player. After 10 minutes you lose a striker and have to make another sub,” he said.
Cardoso also questioned the condition of the Loftus Versfeld pitch following heavy rain and thunderstorms, which delayed the second half by 35 minutes.
He felt the surface prevented Sundowns from imposing their usual possession-based approach, making their task of recovering from a two-goal deficit considerably harder.
“When I came out I saw the pitch, then I understood that Sundowns could not use the football they are used to play,” he explained.
The defeat clearly weighed heavily on the coach, who apologised to the supporters and club leadership for failing to deliver the trophy.
“I’m very sorry for our fans. They were here today, we wanted to give them joy for our chairman, board and I feel a lot of pain today because of that.”
For Cardoso, the challenge now is to ensure that another painful continental setback does not derail Sundowns’ season.