Keanu Cupido sheds light on Mamelodi Sundowns pre-season

The Brazilians had a busy schedule long after wrapping up the Betway Premiership title, with commitments in the CAF Champions League and the expanded 32-team Club World Cup in the United States, which ultimately only wrapped up at the end of June.

Cupido, who featured in all three group stage fixtures in the US, stressed that it was important to manage their load ahead of what is likely to be another gruelling campaign kicking off with the MNT8 this weekend.

"The players are well. We had a week of pre-season camp, we've done really well and the numbers [data] were good for the coaches as well," said Cupido.

"We feel it's not basically about more training, but about rest. We got three weeks off and I think the players used it very wisely – we rested, spent time with our families, which is also very important for us and our families.

"So we feel like we needed more rest than actually training, or having a longer pre-season."

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The former Cape Town City centre back says the expectations at Sundowns are that every player must treat their bodies like a temple. 

"At Mamelodi Sundowns, with the amount of games we've had, it will show at the end of the day that this guy is somewhere, he's not doing the right stuff," he added.

"You get your players like Tebza [Mokoena], Marcello [Allende], Lucas [Ribeiro], who played so many games consistently with top performances, and that shows the professionalism from the guys at Sundowns.

"So that is what they tell you, you need to be professional and they will also look after you at the team, so that's the most important thing for us."