Cardoso bemoans Sundowns’ level of play in final

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso felt his side did not play at the level needed to secure the Champions League in Cairo on Sunday and that Egyptian winners Pyramids fought for their lives in taking the two-legged tie 3-2 on aggregate.

This is what Cardoso told SuperSport.com after the game

“The fact that we are not happy, or that I’m not happy, doesn't mean that I'm not proud of everything we did to get to this final. But at the same time, I think that there was something missing for us to be at the level that we needed to be, in order to win.

"It's not a question of who was best or who was worse, because when there's a winner, it means that they were better.

"What I feel is that in some moments, we didn't find a way to compete at the level that we should have competed at, in order to win the trophy. Anyway, it's not many people that play Champions League finals and that have the right to win a medal.

"I just would like to remind you that on the way to the final, we beat Al Ahly, who are still the first on the CAF rankings, and we beat them in the semifinal. And when we played Esperance from Tunisia, and beat them, they were second in the rankings of CAF. 

"When I arrived, the club was struggling to try to get through the group stage of the Champions League. We had immediately a very tough game against Russ Casablanca but in a very tough group, we were able to proceed past the group stage.

"What I mean is that throughout the tournament, our players were able to show a great commitment, a great attitude, and also quality, and guiding them to the final obviously makes me, as I said, very proud.

"The feeling when you play a final and you don't win is obviously very bitter, very disappointing. But as I said before the match, the sensation that pervades for me is that I have a wonderful group of men in my locker room, that obviously at this moment are suffering.

"But they will get up as the true champions that they are, human beings that are champions on a daily basis in their lives.

"Their commitment to what they do will see us proceed our way. We have still a lot to do, and at this moment, what is important is that we go back and set new objectives, and that we look to repeat the opportunity of playing again in a Champions League final and be even better than before.

WHEN YOU SAY SOMETHING WAS MISSING, CAN YOU PUT YOUR FINGER ON WHAT IT WAS?

“Well, you know, I always speak about how important it is to compete at the highest level. It's exactly the answer that I gave to questions asked by the journalists in South Africa.

"They asked, ‘why is it so difficult to play against teams from the north of Africa?’ Because those teams compete. They play well, of course, they also play football, but they compete at a high level.

"Every duel is a life changer, every ball they fight for, they fight with all the energy they have. Ending some moments, I felt that there was something missing on our part, but I don't think that we played worse than Pyramides. I think that was shown in both matches.

"But Pyramides were very competent, very capable of keeping us from playing the way we wanted. But most of all, they gave their lives in every ball they were challenging for. 

"And then at this level, sometimes that makes the difference. And I think that was what made a lot of difference in this final. That's what is in my mind at the moment. It's not a matter of accepting that we lost, but it's a matter of accepting that we didn't play the game I think that we should have in key parts of the game.

"We didn't play at the level that we should have played. And we needed to get up and play in a different way, to be able to fight.

"And when we did, when we got up and we looked them in the eyes and we didn't worry about what was on the other side, how they were playing, we just worried about what we had to do. We could even have won, because in the second half … in the last 20-25 minutes, we came close to the goal that would have given us a victory.

"But I have to be honest with myself and with my players and I think that the feeling I have about not being at the right level, they also have.

 And it's human, it's normal. It's a learning because despite the fact we have a lot of international players, playing finals is another thing. Let's focus now on what we can do in the future and pick up the energy for the Club World Cup.”

WERE PYRAMIDS BETTER TACTICALLY?

“We saw a period in this game where they played like they played in the first game, with a high line, 4-4-2, and a physical approach. Even without having the ball, they were all capable of fighting for it.

"And even if they would lose possession quickly, they were able again to fight for it, and not to let us install our positional game and our passing game. Then it's the physicality journey. I don't think Pyramids was anything on the pitch that we didn’t anticipate.

"I said before the match that despite that, we understood clearly how they play, that doesn’t make it easy to play against them. And we should respect that, because to win trophies at this level, you need to compete at the highest level, and this Pyramids team is for sure competing throughout the season at the highest level. They are a good team, but we could have beaten them.

"But to beat these Pyramids, we should have played at the highest level of performance that we could. And I think in some moments, we were not able. But that is also credit to Pyramids. They also didn't allow us to play the way we wanted.

"And it's important to recognise that. I'm a sportsman, I need to understand that. But I think we have played better football than them. But they competed better than us. That is what made the difference this time.”