Sundowns Coach: North African Clubs Fear Us and Therefore Undermine Our Value

Miguel Cardoso, the head coach of Sundowns, revealed his psychological strategy to shield his players against the tactical provocations of North African teams.

The South African team, Sundowns, won the African Champions League this season after overcoming the obstacle of Tunisia's Esperance in the semi-finals and Morocco's Royal Army in the final.

Miguel Cardoso said in statements reported by the South African newspaper Kick Off: "Matches against North African teams? I didn't expect that, I was expecting a great, enthusiastic atmosphere. We experienced that at the Mouloudia Algiers stadium, it was amazing, and also last season in Cairo, against Al Ahly."

He added: "In Morocco, against the Royal Army, the fans were very close to the pitch, you could see the faces around you, and at the start of the match, you hear that sound, I think it's the loudest sound I've ever heard in my life."

He continued: "This is the mentality we need to instill in our team players, to make them understand why they act this way, why they bother us, why they want to belittle us, because they fear us... They don't do that when they play against a small team."

"They want to belittle us with this behavior... The question here is how do we deal with it, because if they are afraid and act this way, why should we be afraid? We should enjoy ourselves."