Sundowns coach Cardoso not worried about the heat in Nigeria

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso is not concerned about the hot weather conditions in Nigeria where they take on Remo Stars in a Champions League second preliminary round clash on Sunday.

The Brazilians, who had a bye in the first round, are at M.K.O. Abiola International Stadium for the first leg where temperatures are expected to be high but Cardoso is not worried.

This will be nothing new for Sundowns players because a few months ago they played under searing conditions at the Fifa Club World Cup in the US.

“It is hot in Nigeria but it is also summer in South Africa,” said Cardoso.

“Our players are used to playing in the heat because sometimes in South Africa we have high temperatures from this time of the year. At the end of last season, we played at the Fifa Club World Cup with difficult climate conditions due to the heat.

“I don’t think it is something that will affect the performance of the team.”

Cardoso travelled with some of his players who were busy during the Fifa international week with their respective national teams.

“It is a fact that several of our players played two matches for their national teams recently. It is also a fact that we travelled early to Nigeria to provide enough recovery time for them

“The day before we departed Johannesburg on Thursday, we had an opportunity to do training sessions in preparations for the match and now we are trying to acclimitise to the weather conditions.”

Sundowns have a bigger pedigree than Remo Stars and Cardoso said they must be professional in their approach.

“If we want to win this game against Remo Stars, we need to be strong. If we think we are favourites because we were finalists last year, we will be making a big mistake.

“I don’t go along with this kind of attitude, we have two matches and they are going to be difficult on different conditions. We know what this team is capable of and we need to be loyal to ourselves by giving the best.

“We need to be focused on what we are going to do, otherwise the story of the underdog can happen. We have to take this match serious.”

Remo Stars coach Tiago Conde was quoted by the club’s social media team as saying they know what they are up against.

“We know the story of the opponent but for 90 minutes on Sunday, we are focused on 11 against 11,” he said.

In other continental matches involving South African teams, Orlando Pirates are in the DRC to face highly unpredictable Saint-Éloi Lupopo in Lumumbashi on Sunday.

In the Confederation Cup, Kaizer Chiefs are also in the DRC to take on AS Simba at the Stade TP Mazembe in Lubumbashi while Stellenbosch FC are in Equatorial Guinea to take on 15 de Agosto de Akonibe at Estadio de Ebibeyin both matches are on Saturday.