Photo Credit - Mamelodi Sundowns Media.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has defended mentor Nasreddine Nabi for the job he is doing at rivals Kaizer Chiefs as the two South African giants prepare to face off in a Betway Premiership fixture at a sold-out Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday.
The Tunisian gaffer has been under pressure from the fans since joining Amakhosi with the team posting inconsistency results. The outcome has seen them fall down in their push to challenge Sundowns for the league title.
Currently, Chiefs are lying eighth on the 16-team table with 25 points garnered from seven wins, four draws and seven defeats. On the other hand, Sundowns are leading with 51 points accumulated from 17 wins, no draw and two defeats.
Speaking ahead of their second round fixture of the season, the Portuguese tactician was full of praise for Nabi admitting that he had full respect for the coach, and was in support of the project he was doing to develop the team.
“I don’t think he will change his general approach to the game. He can strategically adapt certain principles, and we can also adapt ourselves. He’s not just any kid that is coaching in football for the first time. I have respect for him. He knows what he’s doing, and he wants to develop his team, which is what he wants because he’s preparing for the future of the club,” said Miguel as quoted by Sundowns website.
On facing Chiefs, whom they have beaten twice already this season, Cardoso explained: “These games have different contexts. What I mean is these games bring something different. They highlight the best of the team and the best of the players. That’s why there’s always so much excitement for these teams.
“But most of the time, these kinds of games are not always the best ones or technically well-played matches. But sometimes they are. With Pirates, it was not a beautiful match, it was a competitive match but with a lot of tactical things happening during the match. So, that’s what I expect also from this match.”
On how prepared Sundowns are ahead of the game, Cardoso offered: “Preparations for this match have been short. We arrived from Polokwane at three o’clock on Thursday morning and the focus has been on recovery, getting back some energy, and preparing for Kaizer Chiefs in so little time. We will, however, try to cope with all these variants and try to naturally approach the match with a great mindset to compete in the game.”
Masandawana will go into the fixture from a fruitful trip in Polokwane in a smash-and-grab 4-2 win against Sekhukhune United that helped them to extend their lead on top of the log.
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