Miguel Cardoso welcomes Sundowns chairman vote of confidence

The Portuguese mentor has come under scrutiny from sections of the Sundowns faithful after failing to secure any domestic silverware so far this season. 

However, Motsepe’s assurance that there are no immediate plans to overhaul the technical team is a vote of confidence that Cardoso believes has injected renewed belief and energy into the squad. 

"Unfortunately we lost two cups on penalties. If you see the matches we've played with Pirates, we didn't lose a single match against them on football played, but we lost on penalties," defended Cardoso.

"And unfortunately one of them gave us an exit from one of the cups, and then we played Marumo [Gallants] and got kicked out of another cup in a match where they barely entered our box, with 0 shots on target, and then took us out on penalties.

"But going towards your question, I think obviously we are aligned – it's clear – inside the club, and the chairman is not only a fantastic human being but also a very intelligent person who understands football.

"And he's also a person that speaks a lot with me, a lot with everybody in the club, so we have a vision together with the sports direction that is very clear on how we go forward."

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Following their 3-1 Betway Premiership win over Sekhukhune United on Sunday, Cardoso urged the fans to stick with the team until the end. 

"In a family like Sundowns, we support each other in the good moments but support each other especially in the ones that we feel are not so good, so that we stick together and do not lose the direction we want to go in," he added.

"Obviously I'm very thankful for that support and it comes in the same direction as my work, which is very hard and very professional, and with a high commitment.

"And obviously what we need is the support of our fans, they are a very important part of us and they are the ones that should live our values, and they make me so proud.

"On the way in, I stopped to film them singing and as soon as I leave, I will probably send it to my family so that they see what is the energy of the Masandawana family, and what the spirit is that our players carry on their shirts."