READER LETTER | Downs’ Cardoso still on track

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso continues to make his detractors at the club and outside eat humble pie as he successfully continues with his work with the team. Earlier in his tenure, people with clandestine agendas wanted the Portuguese-born coach to be sacked for no clear reasons other than that they wanted their favourite players preferred ahead of the coach’s selection. Cardoso is now on track to secure Sundowns its ninth successive league title, though this time around the race is stiffer, with Orlando Pirates in the game.

Last week, hefaced a battle of a different kind in Bamako, Mali. There, he and his team did not only face a challenge of winning the CAF Champions League quarterfinal but had to overcome debilitating weather conditions as well. Sundowns fought tactfully in the 39°C heat and also one man down after Aubrey Modiba’s red card.

It’s history that Downs overcame Stade Malien and are now in the semifinals, representing the entire sub-Saharan Africa against the North Africans. The primary objective of coaches is not always scoring many goals but winning the match tactfully. – AK Bantseke