Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso says a lot of factors favoured champions-elect Orlando Pirates in the heated Betway Premiership title race.
This comes after the defending champions lost ground in their bid to defend their crown following a 3-2 defeat to TS Galaxy in their final outing on Tuesday.
Cardoso, however, remains optimistic of retaining the championship, noting the number of points accumulated this season was previously enough to win the league, with Pirates, who need a win to dethrone Sundowns, still left with two matches.
“The season is not over, the season still has two matches to be played, the PSL yes it’s finished. And it’s just unfortunate the match was what it was today [Tuesday]. I think under normal conditions we should have won, with all the respect to TS Galaxy, nothing to point on,” said the Downs mentor.
“But it’s our obligation to arrive here and win the match and finish the league with the points that we should have collected today because I really wanted us to make a point today because if we had gathered the three points today the team would have achieved the number of points that would allow us to be in the third best ever campaign in the history of the club.
“Anyway, with the number of points that we have today, in the last five years we have been champions. The question here is to see what will happen in the matches that are going to be played by Pirates because we are still at the top of the table. As I said, in the last five years I think we have been champions with this number of points, so it’s not really that we made a bad season. If we don’t become champions it’s because someone else made a very good season.
The Portuguese tactician is adamant the referees and the good away pitches that Pirates played in compared to his team during the run-in, swayed the direction of the title race.
“But also I think that the red carpet was open in front of them, so it’s important to be fair, to analyse what happened in the recent weeks. I just want you to remember that in the previous match when we played Chiefs we had Jayden Adams given a yellow card for simulation, and that doesn’t happen, it’s not a simulation. It’s a tackle where he jumps to avoid a tackle and he got a yellow card and got sent off in a moment where we were going for the result because we were indeed in total control of the match,” Cardoso added.
“And then we are given a penalty against us in the last match. And for example, we saw in the Pirates match [vs Magesi] a penalty being given in a simulation, it’s not a penalty it’s a simulation and the referee not only gives a penalty but he lets the player stay in the pitch. So, the judgement throughout the season was very tough. As I said, in terms of calendar, management of pitches, you saw Pirates playing in pitches where we didn’t play.
“We played Magesi they took us somewhere in the country where the pitch is small, the Seshego Stadium, but Pirates they invited them to a big venue, nice pitch to play football. So, this is the reality that we had to face. Of course, we should have been strong today and make the points and reach the 71 points.
“But I also think that it’s very important that South Africa not only brings the VAR as quick as possible and start working very quickly because if it’s not an effort to be done very quickly, probably in the next year the problems will be bigger because VAR is not that simple. It’s a lot of education to the referees and it’s something that is very important to give.
Piala Dunia 2026
Piala Dunia FIFA 2026 akan menjadi edisi paling revolusioner dalam sejarah sepak bola dunia. Turnamen ini untuk pertama kalinya akan diselenggarakan di tiga negara sekaligus, yaitu Amerika Serikat, Kanada, dan Meksiko. Selain itu, jumlah peserta juga meningkat dari 32 menjadi 48 tim, membuka peluang lebih besar bagi negara-negara dari berbagai konfederasi untuk tampil di panggung global. Format baru ini akan menghadirkan lebih banyak pertandingan, atmosfer kompetisi yang lebih luas, serta jangkauan penonton yang semakin besar di seluruh dunia.
Dengan skala yang jauh lebih besar, FIFA menargetkan turnamen ini sebagai ajang yang tidak hanya kompetitif tetapi juga spektakuler dari sisi teknologi dan pengalaman penonton. Stadion-stadion modern di berbagai kota tuan rumah telah dipersiapkan untuk menghadirkan pertandingan berkelas dunia, didukung oleh inovasi seperti peningkatan sistem VAR dan pengalaman digital bagi fans. diprediksi akan menjadi tonggak baru dalam evolusi sepak bola internasional, memperkuat popularitas olahraga ini sekaligus menciptakan momen-momen bersejarah yang akan dikenang dalam waktu lama.
