Mamelodi Sundowns' edge in experience in high-level international matches played a part in them edging Orlando Pirates in Saturday’s MTN8 final, Brazilians coach Miguel Cardoso said.
Pirates were unable to make their most promising moments count but Cardoso felt in the end the 2-0 scoreline at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban was a fair result against worthy opponents in “a beautiful show, a beautiful football game with a lot of competitiveness”.
Goals by Teboho Mokoena in the 12th minute and Iqraam Rayners in the 95th saw Downs end their domestic cup drought that went back to the 2021/2022 Nedbank Cup and lift their first MTN8 trophy since 2021.
They achieved that against coach Abdeslam Ouaddou’s imposing Buccaneers, who have been the recent cup kings of South African football and lifted a treble in the Moroccan’s first campaign with the Soweto giants in 2025/2026, which included ending Downs’ eight-season Premiership title run.
Pirates have also been competitive again in the CAF Champions League in recent years, reaching the semifinals in 2024/2025, but cannot match Sundowns' record of a second title last season that came after a decade of progressing to and past the group stages.
Downs have also competed in the Fifa Club World Cup and this season in the Fifa Intercontinenal Cup, beating Al Ahli Saudi to lift the African-Asian-Pacific Cup.
Cardoso was asked if such experience played a role as Downs showed intent to rectify their domestic cup deficiency on Saturday.
“Obviously it’s not my experience, it’s the players’ experience in managing those kinds of matches, yes,” the Portuguese said.
“And now we have a past together.
"I remember them at halftime in the match against Al Ahli, for example, in the Intercontinental Cup, where I said, ‘Guys, don’t let anything stay on the pitch; let’s go better in the second half, there are things we need to correct.’
“We knew the beginning and end of a match, together with the set pieces, were the strong points for Pirates.
"And we knew we had to take the match in those last 25 minutes, managing it with substitutions, bringing energy and the team keeping organisation.
“And I think that was fantastic to see from the boys.
"They were committed to keeping their organisation and helping [each other] and as time was passing they could double their energy, commitment and strength.”
Cardoso urged his players to keep their feet on the ground in a season where Sundowns compete in a staggering seven competitions — the Premiership, MTN8, Carling Knockout and Nedbank domestically and Intercontinental, Champions League and CAF Super Cup internationally.
