‘These are human beings with families and a social life, and physically they must be respected,’ said the Sundowns head coach.
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso is disappointed his side’s Betway Premiership clash with Orlando Pirates was moved from Saturday to Sunday afternoon.
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The game was originally scheduled for March 15 but will not be played on Sunday. This means Sundowns’ Bafana players will not get even a day’s rest before joining Hugo Broos’ Bafana squad for the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin.
Sundowns’ Cardoso – ‘It’s not good’
“It is not good that the match is on a Sunday, even for the national team,” Cardoso told reporters this week.
“The players will go immediately (to Bafana). They will not have time to rest. That is why this game should have been on a Saturday, so players can be respected.
“These are human beings with families and a social life. Physically they must be respected. Sometimes we demand from players even when they are tired and not capable.
“Everyone is always pushing if a players does not play so well. But sometimes it is difficult.”
Cardoso is, nevertheless, delighted that so many of his players have been called up to play for South Africa.
‘Incredible pleasure’
“It is an incredible pleasure for the club, for myself, and my staff and for the players,” said Cardoso.
“That is what we work for. I am also happy to see our players in the Under-20 squad (for the Under-20 AFCON). And we had players in the CHAN (African Nations Championship) squad.
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“The objective of our work is that players get promoted to a level where they are allowed … to represent South Africa. Obviously there is an impact to that. They are going to play Champions League and we have our Nedbank Cup match (Sundowns are yet to play Sekhukhune United in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals).
“We have to cope with that and if our players play two matches for the national team we may need to take care of them. But we cannot now tell the coach of the national team not to call our players.”
