Cardoso sends message to Van Rooyen as he awaits Downs debut
Deano van Rooyen is still waiting for his Mamelodi Sundowns debut, but coach Miguel Cardoso has given him a reason to keep believing.
The former Stellenbosch captain joined Sundowns as a free agent after leaving Orlando Pirates in the recent transfer window.
At the time, it looked like he would waltz into the starting line-up with regular right back Khuliso Mudau injured, and Zuko Mdunyelwa struggling.
But soon after, Bafana Bafana right-back Thabang Matuludi arrived, and the competition got serious.
Matuludi has made an instant impact. He set up goals in the FIFA African-Asian-Pacific Cup against Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli and in the MTN8 final, where his assist helped Teboho Mokoena score the winner against Orlando Pirates.
Last weekend, the former Polokwane City man scored a brace against Durban City in the Betway Premiership. That puts him ahead of Van Rooyen in selection, while Van Rooyen works on his fitness in friendlies.
There is also Thapelo Morena who has recovered from injury. But the coach says the delay is about preparation, not ability.
“Deano is a player that when he came to us, there was a big pause in terms of preparation,” Cardoso said.
“We understand the moments of the players, and we always look to create conditions when we expose them to competition; we don’t give them an environment where he cannot excel or show good things.
“That’s our way of thinking about the players. We don’t expose players to a public environment because a football game is a public environment.
“It’s an environment of performance, when we feel a player is not really ready for that. He is arriving on that stage.”
Cardoso said Van Rooyen is not the only one waiting.
“As you can imagine, the competition for the position is quite high. Not only him and Zuko,” he added.
“Thabang arrived and settled very quickly in the team. We didn’t know how things were going to be when we brought one and the other. Of course, Thabang picked up the pace more quickly.
“They know the coach trusts them. They just have to have the resilience and the spirit to wait for the moment when the opportunity will appear.”
Sundowns are through to the Carling Knockout semi-finals and face Confederation Cup champions USM Alger in the CAF Super Cup at Loftus on Sunday. That is however unlikely to be a stage for fresh faces.
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