Miguel Cardoso addresses Sundowns MTN8 woes ahead of Golden Arrow clash

23.08.26 09:00 MTN 8 Cup South Africa

Mamelodi Sundowns FC

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Lamontville Golden Arrows

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Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has addressed the club's struggles in the MTN8 ahead of the first leg of their semi-final clash against Golden Arrows at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Sunday.

The Brazilians are currently enduring a domestic cup title drought with their last triumph dating back to the 2021/22 campaign, where they clinched a treble which included the league, Nedbank Cup and the MTN8.

Sundowns have fallen short in three semi-finals and one final in the MTN8 since their last success in the competition, sparking discontent amongst a section of the Masandawana faithful.

The Portuguese mentor has made an honest admission that clinching one MTN8 title in the last 18 years is not a good look for a club of Sundowns' stature, and says he challenged his troops to introspect on the cup woes this season.

“It's obviously not a good thing that in 18 years, as you said, we have one trophy in the MTN8 but it's also understandable there are other trophies that we won during that period of time. It's just a matter of coincidence I think,” said Cardoso.

"But it's a very interesting thing to understand. And let me just add, in the beginning of the competition when we played Polokwane City it was our first match. It was my exact question to the players, when there's a pattern and when we've won one out of 18, obviously there's a pattern that is not good.

"But there's a pattern we should understand ourselves if there's anything that we do that takes us in the direction of that pattern and what we have to do different so that we can try to break the pattern.

"And that was exactly the starting point for the competition that we settled between ourselves and it will be for sure something I will remind the boys again on the preparation of the next match.

Having guided Sundowns to CAF Champions League glory after a decade last season, Cardoso will be eager to break the club's domestic cup title hoodoo, with three trophies on offer.

Hlayisani Magoro

Editorfr, en

Football journalist from South Africa covering African football news, exclusive stories and key events while sharing insights with passionate fans of the game.

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