“We fought a lot today and from the very first minute until the end, no one inside the pitch gave up,” said Cardoso.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso finds himself under mounting pressure after his side were dumped out of the Carling Knockout by Marumo Gallants at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday night.
The match ended goalless after extra-time before Bahlabane Ba Ntwa sealed a dramatic 7-6 win on penalties to progress to the quarter-finals.
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Gallants goalkeeper Washington Arubi was the hero of the night, pulling off crucial saves to deny Marcelo Allende, Fawaaz Basadien and Mosa Lebusa in the shootout, before confidently converting the decisive spot-kick himself in sudden death.
Frustrated Sundowns supporters made their feelings clear at full-time, refusing to acknowledge the players, a rare show of discontent that broke the club’s long-standing post-match tradition of singing for the team regardless of the result.
The Brazilians have flattered to deceive in two major competitions this season, having already stumbled in the MTN8 and now the Carling Knockout.
The pressure on Cardoso intensified after the final whistle, with sections of the crowd audibly chanting, “Cardoso must go!”
“It’s obvious that fans want to win, they want to celebrate but there’s one thing that is important and it’s that everybody needs to understand,” Cardoso said after the match.
“We fought a lot today and from the very first minute until the end, no one inside the pitch gave up. So the pressure, we know what colours we represent and we are the first ones that want to win. When you take a match to penalties, things can happen for both sides.
“It’s normal for the fans who were together with the team for 90 plus 30 minutes and the penalties, we all feel disillusioned at the moment that we couldn’t win so we just take it as normal.”
Sundowns’ new signing Miguel Reisinho was shown a straight red card just six minutes into his debut for a reckless challenge on Siyabonga Nhlapho. Despite being reduced to ten men, Cardoso maintained that his team were the better side and deserved more from the contest.
“We were in control of the match and we didn’t give chances (to Gallants) at all and we didn’t allow transitions and our defence was very good on the duels and the way we controlled the spaces,” he concluded.
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“Sometimes football doesn’t give credit to the ones that took responsibility to make things happen but today when we got to the penalties, there’s nothing to say because it’s a matter of details and the details fell on the side of Marumo.”