Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso said he was always convinced his side would get the vital away goal which proved decisive in Sunday’s CAF 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," Cardoso said.
“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,” Cardoso said.
“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.