Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso said his players have little to fear from the large, intimidating crowd expected in Rabat on Sunday when they take on Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces in the second leg of the African Champions League final.
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“I think that we all work all our careers to play matches like this,” said Cardoso, whose side are looking to protect their 1-0 advantage from last week’s first leg in Pretoria. “What is difficult is when you go to play somewhere in the middle of nowhere and there's no supporters. We prepare ourselves for these moments with the big crowd.”
Sundowns’ Moroccan opponents are banking on their supporters helping them to overturn the slender deficit, but Cardoso said the game would be won on the field rather than the stands.
“This game, as any other game, will have four different moments that the team has to handle in the right way. There will be moments that we have to play without a ball, which is that we have to defend, in order to win back the ball.
“Sometimes those can be the most aggressive moments of your game if you are really committed and strong.
“And there will be moments that we will have the ball. And it's important also to play those moments in a way that is aligned with our identity.
'SENSE OF PRIDE'
“We need to really be strong as well on the defensive and offensive set pieces. And that's how you can win a match like this,” the Sundowns coach said.
“The sensation that we have is obviously a sensation of pride, of a sense of work done. Obviously, we are at that point where there's nothing more than to prepare and fight to the end.
“It has been such a beautiful journey, a difficult one, with moments of joy, happiness, tears, sweat, hard work, that my players have done in such a committed way.
“Mostly we want to do the best we can in order to lift the trophy and give to the club what it has been searching for over the last 10 years.”
“Obviously, we understand that careers are made by winning trophies, and we're going to fight tomorrow. We have that as a clear ambition and that's why we want so much to do it.
“The commitment that we have since last year, when we didn't achieve the victory, has been stronger than ever in order to try and get a second chance. And here we are,” Cardoso added.
Sundowns were also heavily fancied in last year’s final when they met Pyramids of Egypt, but ended up losing 3-2 on aggregate.