Miguel Cardoso Identifies the Reason Behind Mamelodi Sundowns’ CAF Champions League Exit

• Mamelodi Sundowns have been knocked out of the CAF Champions League by Wiliete SC in the second preliminary round
• It is the first time since 2015 that the Premier Soccer League giants have failed to reach the group stages of the competition
• Head coach Miguel Cardoso has broken his silence on what went wrong during the humiliating defeat against the Angolans

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has placed the blame squarely on his players following the club's stunning early exit from the CAF Champions League, saying there are no external factors to point to.

The defending champions were eliminated in the second preliminary round by Wiliete SC, marking their earliest exit from the competition since 2015. It is a result that sent shockwaves through South African football.

Speaking to SABC Sport after the match, Cardoso was candid about how the night unfolded, noting that Wiliete offered very little going forward and that Sundowns were largely the architects of their own downfall.

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"It's obviously difficult to express anything when you don't qualify for the group stages and you cannot even proceed in the competition and defend the title," he said.

"But we just can look at ourselves. I think besides one shot from the first half there is nothing from Wiliete in this match. The goal they score is a pass from our own striker. We had so many chances, we can only complain on us, it's a very tough night, very difficult moment."

Cardoso went further, pointing to a failure to manage the game intelligently after conceding, with emotions getting the better of his side when they still had ample time to recover.

"We can only complain on us on what we could have done, the game was so simple to close it but we let the energy not go in the right direction and after we suffered the goal still 40 minutes to play and we let emotions take control of us and not play in the most clever way," he added.

Despite the severity of the result, the Portuguese coach was keen to stress that the club must shift focus quickly and channel their energy into the competitions that remain available to them.

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"It's a very tough result, disaster is another thing in life," Cardoso said. "The only way is to move forward. There is competitions to win, very quickly we have to turn over. Obviously it's a tough one and fortunately a lot of losses we had, but nothing to complain. Just look forward and win."

Source: Briefly News