BETWAY PREMIERSHIP LAUNCH | Cardoso driven to defend Sundowns’ historic championship run

The excitement of having led Mamelodi Sundowns to winning the inaugural Betway Premiership title still lingers with Miguel Cardoso, and the 53-year-old coach intends to use it as fuel for the upcoming campaign.

Sundowns are looking to win the domestic championship a record-extending ninth time when they kickstart the season with a clash away to Chippa United on Saturday (kick-off 3pm). It is a tricky clash for the Brazilians, given that the Chilli Boys now have a former Sundowns tactician, Sinethemba Badela, as their coach.

“Being part of the Premiership and being one of the 16 coaches that lead teams in the PSL is a privilege,” the Portuguese told newshounds, during the season launch in Sandton, Johannesburg.

“Obviously, last year was a magnificent season for me as a head coach and having the chance to become a champion here at a club with the level of Mamelodi Sundowns.

"That excitement still drives me and I will continue to try to give that to my players. I think we created a fantastic relationship; we have a wonderful energy inside the club.”

He believes they have great support from the board, who have “a strong commitment to the club’s growth and that’s exactly the starting point for the success that the club has achieved in recent history.”

All that notwithstanding, Cardoso anticipates a challenging season ahead.

“That’s exactly what we want to do for the next season. It will be a season obviously in which I hope to keep the good moments as much as possible.

"For sure there will be days that will not be happy and those values that we developed are the ones that will make us keep the pace in the right way and in the right direction. We have strong challenges ahead but beautiful things that can appear in the season, so let’s see how the players take their responsibilities.”

The former Esperance coach cannot wait for the transfer window period to close.

“Let’s hope the market finishes as quickly as possible so that then we know who we have and how we can be in the future.”

He knows they are going to have to work very hard to retain their title, though.

“Obviously the competition is very tough. I’ve always said that the Betway Premiership is a very tough championship and despite the records that were broken by us last season, it has to do with the higher standards we set rather than the lower performance from our opponents.

"We have a lot of respect for the work of coaches and players from every team. We know that we have big contenders ahead and only by being ourselves and being loyal to our values can we think about winning again.

"So, by that commitment, we can win every time or lose as few points as possible so that we can compete for the championship.”