26/04/2025 07:00
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has pointed out that he was ‘surprised’ by Al Ahly’s approach in Friday’s CAF Champions League clash.
Masandawana secured their spot in the final after holding current holders, Al Ahly, to a 1-1 draw in a semi-final second-leg match at the Cairo International Stadium in Egypt and the South African side won the tie on the away goals rule after a 1-1 aggregate stalemate.
With the first-leg encounter having ended in a 0-0 draw in Pretoria, South Africa, on 19 April, Cardoso was astounded by the Egyptian giants’ defensive approach when they met in Cairo.
"I was surprised [by Al Ahly's defensive approach], but I understand because if you think that in the last eight matches, now nine, Al Ahly never won against Mamelodi Sundowns. They understand that they would have to be careful,” the Portuguese tactician told the reporters.
"Also, it has to do with the fact that we are playing very tight matches and we have to take care of both teams because they knew suffering a goal could put everything falling down and we also knew scoring one would change.
"After we suffered from a mistake, we had to run and amend. We made a lot of changes in the second half in order to become more aggressive. We lost a little bit of creativity in the front and in the end, I thought we deserved [to go through] despite big respect for Al Ahly."
Sundowns will meet Al Ahly’s Egyptian rivals, Pyramids, in the two-legged final. Sundowns – the 2016 African champions – will be at home in the first leg on 24 May before taking on Pyramids in Egypt on 1 June.
