Following a surprising 1-0 loss to Golden Arrows, Mamelodi Sundowns coach
Miguel Cardoso has addressed the role of new signings Nuno Santos and
Miguel Reisinho, explicitly stating they are not direct replacements for
the departed star Lucas Ribeiro Costa.
Fans had speculated that the Portuguese duo were brought in to fill the
void left by Ribeiro, who was one of the team’s most influential attackers
last season. However, Cardoso emphasized a different strategy focused on
overall squad reinforcement.
“No player will substitute Lucas because that’s not what we are looking
for,” Cardoso stated. “Every player has his own characteristics, and
neither Nuno nor Miguel has the characteristics that Lucas had.”
The coach elaborated that Ribeiro was a “particular player” with a unique
ability to unlock defenses—a quality Sundowns visibly lacked in their
defeat. “In these kinds of games… he was capable of finding solutions,”
Cardoso admitted.
Despite this acknowledgment, the coach was firm in looking forward. “Lucas
for us is a wonderful memory, a good friend, but it’s the past,” he said.
Instead of seeking a like-for-like replacement, the focus is on building a
more collective unit.
Cardoso concluded by outlining his vision for the team’s future: “Sundowns
will develop to be a different team, probably more collective even than it
was in the past. That’s what we want, and that’s what we are doing.”
