MAMELODI Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso knows the Club World Cup will be a huge test of his side’s credentials and said Monday making it out of the group stage would be “an incredible achievement” as they prepare for their opening game.
“I don’t believe there is one single team before the competition that doesn’t believe they can make the next stage,“ Cardoso said when asked about his team’s tournament prospects ahead of their Group F clash with Ulsan HD of South Korea.
“Obviously for us it would be an incredible achievement to go through the group stage but before we achieve that we need to get points so we need to play a very complete match tomorrow.”
Perennial South African champions Sundowns qualified for FIFA’s lucrative new tournament on the back of their record over the last four years in African competitions.
However, they travelled to the United States still reeling after losing to Pyramids of Egypt in the final of the CAF Champions League two weeks ago.
Putting in a good showing in a group also featuring German giants Borussia Dortmund and Brazilian powerhouses Fluminense would help make up for that disappointment.
“I know it’s going to be tough but I expect it to be beautiful,“ said the 53-year-old Portuguese Cardoso, who has also coached in France, Spain, Greece and Tunisia.
“We need to take it to the limit. There is a ceiling you need to go through at this Club World Cup.
“We need to understand what level we are playing at, and now just show what we can do and take the results as they come.”
After Sundowns meet Ulsan in Orlando they will head to Cincinnati to face Dortmund this weekend before taking on Fluminense in Miami on June 25.
“I am pretty excited to see an African team against an Asian team and am curious to see how we deal with playing Dortmund and a Brazilian team,“ Cardoso said.
“It’s three different tests and in the end they should all help us develop.”
