Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has warned his charges against reducing the momentum ahead of the Kaizer Chiefs game.
The two teams are set to meet on Sunday in the Nedbank Cup semi-final to be staged at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium. It will be the fourth time this season the Brazilians will be playing Amakhosi across all competitions. The former have won the last three meetings, scoring seven goals in the process and conceding just one.
Recently, the reigning Premier Soccer League champions eliminated Esperance from the Caf Champions League to set up a thrilling semi-final with Percy Tau's former team and holders Al Ahly.
Ahead of this weekend's fixture, the Portuguese has explained the importance of ensuring the foot remains on the pedal despite the huge win over the Tunisian heavyweights.
‘Locker room was strong and committed to the fixture'
“I spoke about it in the locker room in Tunisia not only to congratulate and praise them for the fact that they had beaten Esperance. I didn't appreciate the way we reacted in terms of games after we had big victories,” he said in a presser.
“I remember the first game we played against [Orlando] Pirates that we won at Loftus, then we didn't succeed in the following match. When we played Chiefs and won, we also didn't succeed in the following game.
“It means that we have a strong mental work ahead of us. I think that it is not unique for these players to play such decisive games in terms of time. What I felt in that locker room was a strong will and commitment regarding the fixture. If we feed ourselves with victories, we are always in the limit and the top.”
Kaizer Chiefs won't be easy – Cardoso warns
The former Easperance coach concedes things will be tough in the Nedbank Cup semi-final since opponents are better.
“As we approach the final of the competition, obviously the level of our opponents rises and we need to pay strong attention. We played them in the league. It was a very difficult match, always a strong team well-coached by [Nasreddine] Nabi.
“We need to take ourselves to the limit to win the match and go into the final of this competition. We need to push the club to the highest level of capacity to play to overcome the difficulties that naturally will appear during 90 minutes,” Cardoso concluded.
The game between Sundowns and Amakhosi will be played from 18.00 hours SAT.
