Many are called, but few are chosen. For the crowd who worship at the Chloorkop altar, Miguel Cardoso is the Chosen One.
With the business of flexing their muscles on the domestic front done and dusted, few can begrudge Cardoso for feeling like the cat that got all the cream.
Cardoso pulled a move similar to that of fellow chiskop Arne Slot, winning the league title in his maiden season in South African football. The Dutchman delivered the holy grail for Liverpool in his first campaign after assuming the reins at Anfield.
But so high is the bar at The Brazilians that while lifting the Nelson Makamo-designed Betway Premiership trophy might be lovely for him, finishing first doesn’t send Sundowns supremos into seventh heaven. It is an expectation.
It is the bigger and glossier gong for the gang that will emerge glorious from the Caf Champions League final second-leg encounter against Egyptian outfit Pyramids tonight that will place the head honchos on cloud nine.
Club chairman Tlhopie Motsepe has made no bones about the fact that what he aspires to was for Sundowns to arrive in the US for the Fifa Club World Cup adorned with the crown of African champions.
Class of 2016
Annexing the African football castle by winning the premier inter-club competition is a position they were first and last put in when they were Pitso Mosimane’s Class of 2016.
Manqoba Mngqithi and Rulani Mokowena were called to continue where Sundowns left off but came short of taking The Brazilians to the promised land.
Despite an almost invincible season, Mokwena was dispensed with after failing to break the Champions League code. The coaching merry-go-round saw Mngqithi restored to head coach.
When Mngqithi got his Champions League challenge off to an underwhelming start, he too was dismissed and the displeased bosses deployed Cardoso as the Chosen One — the selfsame Cardoso who dealt the death knell to Downs’ ambition by masterminding their semifinal exit with Esperance in the last campaign.
Today, Don Cardoso — as the faithful of the mellow yellow men from Mamelodi have taken to referring to the Sundowns mentor — has a date with destiny.
[Cardoso's] story will be told to generations to come that there once came a man from Portugal who pitched his tent in Pretoria and quenched a nine-year thirst.
How good and how pleasant it would be before Motsepe and the rest of The Brazilians faithful to see Cardoso carve a piece of history for the club in the land of the Sphinx and beat Pyramids in their backyard.
Echelons of club folklore
Should he succeed where his predecessors failed in years of trying, Cardoso would engrave his name, like that of Mosimane, into the echelons of the club’s folklore. His name, like that of Mosimane, will live in the memory of Sundowns supporters for eternity.
Like that of Mosimane, his story will be told to generations to come that there once came a man from Portugal who pitched his tent in Pretoria and quenched a nine-year thirst.
Cardoso is well stocked for the battle, boasting an arsenal of armoury to destroy Pyramids and allow the men from Mamelodi to march through the gates of glory to perch on the summit and survey the debris left in their wake.
It will be mission accomplished after years of investment. Season after season, the Sundonwns signings reflect a statement of intent that theirs is a mission to position the club as a global player with tentacles extending far beyond the country and the continent.
With the 2025 edition of the Club World Cup expanded to 32 teams, Sundowns, along with three other African participants — Al Ahly, Esperance and Wydad Casablanca — will not be at the June 14 to July 13 extravaganza to make up the numbers.
At the Miami and Co Stadium, the home of Orlando City of Major League Soccer in downtown Orlando, US, Sundowns will get the chance to showcase themselves to the world against South Korea’s Ulsan (June 18), Germany’s Borussia Dortmund (June 21), and round off group F engagements with a fixture against Fluminense of Brazil on June 25.
On display will be not just the might of South African soccer, but the crowds at the 25,500-capacity venue will be treated to the supremacy of African football. That supremacy must be sealed tonight by the Chosen One, Miguel Cardoso.
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