Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso came prepared, with his phone, to show how the club was knocked out of the Nedbank Cup and called for the sponsors to provide VAR in the latter stages of the competition.
Sundowns were booted out in the semi-finals of the Nedbank Cup by Kaizer Chiefs at Loftus Stadium on Sunday evening, squandering a first-half lead to lose 2-1 to a side that was considered an underdog.
READ: Insiders: What's Happening With Zwane At Sundowns?
Not pleased with the outcome, the Portuguese mentor whipped out his cellphone during the press conference after the game to show that Ashley du Preez was offside when he scored Amakhosi’s winning goal in the final minute of regulation time.
“It’s obvious that it comes a goal that is offside. I think you all saw. If you didn’t see, go back and look at it because it’s clear, clear, clear. When we work in a country that does not have VAR, that’s what happens. Get the images from the TV and that’s a team that loses the competition out of a mistake from the referee. I think we’ve been penalised enough for the season regarding referee mistakes. I remember goals that we scored in games we also didn’t win and today we are out of the competition from a goal that is offside,” Cardoso told media.
“It is what it is. We need to stand up. We win together, we lose together. Yes, we should have done more.”
READ: Cardoso Addresses Suarez's Costly Mistake
“It’s tough to win everything. Obviously, we wanted to take ourselves to the last step of the competition. We should be there, and we should be there eventually. Maybe our sponsors can in the future provide, in the semi-finals, VAR so that there is more fair game played because it’s important in this stage of the competition. I remember last year in Tunisia, the first phase of the championship had no VAR, but then the play-offs, all matches had VAR. This is fair for football. Sometimes decisions are made on people’s lives because of a mistake that has nothing to do with us. We were doing our job, so what can I tell my players now? We lost because there is a big mistake. But we will rise, of course.”
The Nedbank Cup is gone and Sundowns now need to make sure that they keep themselves alive in the CAF Champions League. A semi-final clash against Egyptian giants Al Ahly awaits them, with the first leg taking place at Loftus Stadium on Friday.
