Vital away goal was always on the cards, says Sundowns coach

RABAT, May 25 (Reuters) - Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso said he was always convinced his side would get the vital away goal which proved decisive in Sunday’s African Champions League ​final. A rasping effort from midfielder Teboho Mokoena flew into the net on the stroke ‌of half-time to equalise the score after hosts Royal Armed Forces had taken the lead and levelled the tie on aggregate. Sundowns took a slender 1-0 lead into the second leg but went behind in the 40th ​minute after giving away a penalty which Mohamed Hrimat converted to see the Moroccan ​side back in the contest. However, with the away goals rule still applied ⁠in African club competition, Royal Armed Forces were left needing to win by two clear goals ​when Mokoena equalised. “After the first penalty, I still felt that at any moment we could score, ​because it's very rare that we don’t score in a game. “I felt we would always have a chance because I knew that we had the power in front from our side. We didn’t manage the game ​in the way I would liked, but once we got our goal we could feel it ​sucked a little bit of the energy out of the stadium.” The Moroccan military side were roared on by ‌a ⁠loud 60,000-strong crowd at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, but needing to score twice in the second half proved a bridge too far. Hrimat was thwarted when Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams saved a penalty the military were awarded in the 77th minute. “Of course, had they scored that it would ​be 15 minutes of ​suffering, for sure, because ⁠they would have come at us with everything,” said Cardoso. “We were not able to be patient and deal with the emotions that we had ​inside of us as time went by and the possibility of ​winning was there, ⁠trying to prevent conceding a second goal didn't allow us to take more control of the game. “You need a little bit of luck at the right moments, but overall we deserved to win,” ⁠he ​added. Cardoso had been the losing coach in the two previous ​Champions League finals, when Esperance of Tunisia lost to Egypt’s Al Ahly in 2024 and with Sundowns last year when ​they were beaten by Pyramids of Egypt. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab