Miguel Cardoso hails Sundowns triumph, dedicates victory to Jayden Adams

The Portuguese mentor admitted he was still struggling to come to terms with Adams’ death, the midfielder having played a key role in Sundowns’ CAF Champions League triumph that secured their meeting with the Saudi giants.

Cardoso also highlighted the work taking place behind the scenes at Chloorkop, saying the achievement was the product of effort, sacrifice and belief.

"I want to leave a special word today in memory of Jayden Adams. I think it's a fantastic moment to honor him and dedicate this medal to his soul. He is always with us; he is always with me, and I have to confess I struggled with his death. We promised ourselves that the best thing we could do is fight together to honor him throughout our journey together," said Cardoso.

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The coach added that Sundowns displayed a solid unit in front of their home crowd

What impressed Cardoso the most was the standard The Brazilians delivered on the day – grabbing the lead twice to eventually win the match courtesy of goals from midfielder Nuno Santos. 

The 54-year-old believes the Sundowns win once again put Africa on the map with millions watching the encounter around the world as the Betway Premiership side now awaits an opponent from South America next. 

"Proud to put the name of the club on this platform. Proud to put the name of South Africa on  this platform. I had the privilege to embrace coach Pitso and I didn't have the chance to publicly congratulate him for the position of head coach of the national team of South Africa.

"The national team of South Africa. And obviously it's also important from our side that we put the continent on the platform that needs to be put itself. So Africa in general has amazing football and it's an opportunity for us to project the African football throughout the world once. So I have to confess, I feel myself absolutely humble, but at the same time with a sense of accomplishment that I don't think is easy to express in words."