Pressure on Sundowns coach Cardoso in richest African club clash

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso is under pressure ahead of the most valuable club match ever staged in Africa.

Sundowns defend a 1-0 lead over Moroccan hosts FAR Rabat on Sunday in the second leg of the CAF Champions League final, which will be broadcast in more than 100 countries.

The aggregate winners of the marquee African club competition pocket a record $6 million plus the chance to bank a further $500,000 by winning a CAF Super Cup match.

On top of that, whichever club is crowned champions at the 70,000-seat Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium is set for a minimum $9.5 million payout as 2029 Club World Cup qualifiers.

Sundowns were among four African entrants at the first edition of the world club championship in the United States last year and returned home $12.5 million richer.

Apart from the $9.5 million participation fee, they pocketed an additional $2 million for beating Ulsan of South Korea and $1 million for drawing with Fluminense of Brazil.

The second edition of the world club championship is scheduled for 2029 with Egyptian side Pyramids already securing a place having beaten Sundowns in the 2025 Champions League final.

Pyramids will be joined by the winners of the next three editions, starting with the showdown between FAR and Sundowns, both of whom have been African champions once.

Portuguese Cardoso has taken clubs to the last two Champions League finals, only to fail with Esperance of Tunisia in 2024 and Sundowns last season.

No coach has reached three consecutive Champions League finals and lost them all since the competition debuted in 1964.

Portuguese Manuel Jose guided Al Ahly of Egypt to four straight title deciders from 2005 and won three. Another Ahly tactician, South African Pitso Mosimane, reached three in a row and won two.

During his first full season in charge of the Pretoria outfit, Cardoso has not lifted a trophy, failing to win any of three domestic knockout competitions.

A day before Sundowns face FAR, Orlando Pirates can win the South African Premiership by beating relegation-threatened Orbit College.

Incredible run

If Pirates are crowned champions, it will end an incredible run by Sundowns, who won the last eight editions of the richest African national league.

Then, should Sundowns lose to FAR, they will complete the season without a trophy having pursued four in South Africa and one in Africa.

The 53-year-old Portuguese admitted to reporters that Sundowns should have won the first leg by a wider margin last Sunday.

“We could have scored one more goal and created a greater advantage,” said Cardoso. He might have been referring to Brayan Leon missing a sitter or a Teboho Mokoena free-kick hitting the post.

“Provided we take the energy exhibited in the first match into the return game, we can become African champions again,” he says.

In the FAR dugout will be another Portuguese coach, Alexandre Santos, four years younger than Cardoso. He is seeking his first African trophy.

The contrast between the coaches is sharp. Cardoso moves up and down his technical area constantly, issuing instructions.

Santos stands still for lengthy periods, emotionless. His hands sometimes cover his mouth as he intently observes what is unfolding.

“The goal we conceded in South Africa was not our fault, but the great ability of a Sundowns player,” Santos says, mentioning a thunderbolt free-kick from full-back Aubrey Modiba.

Modiba could miss the second leg after retiring injured last weekend. If unavailable, Zimbabwe international Divine Lungu is the likely replacement.

Victory for Sundowns would end a run of nine straight Champions League titles for North African clubs, including two for Moroccan outfit Wydad Casablanca, since Sundowns triumphed in 2016.

History offers few clues to the likely outcome as six clubs have taken 1-0 first-leg leads in finals with three going on to become champions and three failing.

It would not be surprising if the title decider was settled either by away goals or a penalty shootout.

En route to the final, FAR won five times and drew twice at home. Sundowns won twice, drew twice and lost twice in away matches.