This is after the Portuguese tactician blamed fatigue and fixture congestion for his side’s shock defeat in midweek.

Galaxy stunned the Betway Premiership champions-elect with a thrilling 3-2 victory.

This result dealt a major blow to Sundowns’ hopes of securing a ninth consecutive league title.

However, instead of crediting Galaxy for their tactical discipline and fighting spirit, Cardoso pointed to exhaustion and a packed schedule as the main reasons behind the defeat.

Those comments clearly did not sit well with Parker, whose game plan successfully neutralised Sundowns’ usually dominant possession-based style.

“No way. This is what football is about,” Parker responded. “You will never hear Real Madrid, Barcelona or Manchester City speaking like that.

Those teams play week in and week out at high intensity in the Champions League, local cups and league matches.”

The former Bafana Bafana striker insisted that managing fatigue and squad rotation is simply part of modern football, regardless of resources or squad depth.

“It’s about how you refresh your squad and still get results. Sometimes you cannot play the same way throughout the season. Sometimes you need a different plan,” he explained.

Parker also pointed out that Galaxy itself had endured a brutal run of fixtures, despite operating with a far smaller squad than Sundowns.

“In our case, we had four games in 10 days. We also played every four days with a small squad that we have.

“But we managed. We even brought in DDC players, and they did very well against Sundowns. They contained them and helped us win the match.”

Parker then suggested Cardoso’s reaction may have been very different had Sundowns walked away with the victory.

“With all due respect, if Cardoso were on the winning side, he would have said something different. He would not have mentioned the calendar.

“But this is football, and I just want to wish them all the best for the final,” he added.

Sundowns are playing the CAF Champions League final first leg match against Morocco’s AS FAR this Saturday at Loftus Stadium.

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