Mamelodi Sundowns players during training ahead of the CAF Champions League semi-final second Leg.
Image: BackpagePix
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has urged his troops to control the narrative of their CAF Champions League semi-final clash at home to Esperance, even though that won’t always be easy.
Sundowns will host Esperance at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off) in the second leg of the semi-final, holding the advantage of a clean sheet and an away goal after their 1-0 win in the reverse fixture in Tunis, Tunisia, last Sunday.
Granted, Sundowns have one foot in the final, which would be their second in a row, but Cardoso is not getting carried away. He knows that his former club, which he steered to the final two seasons ago, will come out firing in the nation’s capital.
Speaking during the pre-match press conference at the venue on Friday afternoon, Cardoso insisted the game will be like a music festival, where his side will need to adapt to the rhythm while also trying to take control.
“I usually say that teams dance according to the music that’s being played,” Cardoso said. “Of course, you can try to choose the record, but it’s not always you that chooses the record.
“Sometimes someone else puts the record on and plays the music. We need to dance; we can’t say that we can’t dance.
“But we also need to fight to play the record that we want as much as possible throughout the match.”
A draw will still be enough for Sundowns to reach the final, which would be Cardoso’s third in succession. That’s why the Portuguese coach will not want any missteps from his troops in front of a sold-out crowd.