Cardoso Reveals Sundowns’ Mindset For CAF Final

Miguel Cardoso says Mamelodi Sundowns will carry the right mentality into the CAF Champions League final return leg after securing a crucial first-leg advantage.

Matchday Global19 May 2026

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On Sunday, Mamelodi Sundowns won the first leg of the CAF Champions League finals against Moroccan side AS FAR Rabat at the Loftus Stadium in Pretoria and coach Miguel Cardoso revealed this is his first home win in the attempts.

Addressing the media after the match, Cardoso said that the victory from the weekend will be extra motivation in the return leg this coming Sunday.

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“I understand, but we have to get the energy, not from the result that we could have got, but from the result that we have in hand,” the Portuguese coach said.

“As you know, it’s my third (Champions League) final in a row, and it's the first time I go with the goal advantage, and all three of them were played away. First match I drew for Esperance with Al Ahly. Second one we drew here 1-1 with Pyramids FC, and this time we have the privilege to be one goal ahead, but let's see if it's enough or not. We will fight to make it enough,” Cardoso told the media.

The Portuguese-born coach further stated that they would have loved to score a second goal for control going into the second leg in Morocco on Sunday.

“I understand that you could have been, I don't say forward, but the second goal would be more and more than fair, let's say, on the level that the team showed. But it's not a chance, and that's not the energy we're going to take.

“We’re going to take the right energy, taking a serious approach in the second match, and the more we focus on being ourselves, the better or the closer we're going to be to achieving what we need to do.

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“It will be a strong aggression, but we are a strong group of people with a lot of character, and that means something we need to put on the pitch. I think that leaving the right emotion will be the key for the second match,” Cardoso concluded.

This is the second final the Brazilians have qualified for since winning the continental trophy in 2016, becoming the second South African team to win the CAF Champions League after Orlando Pirates in 1995.