There are not many teams in the world, and certainly not in Africa, that can go toe-to-toe with German giants Borussia Dortmund, but Mamelodi Sundowns did just that in their 4-3 loss in the Club World Cup at the TQL Stadium, in Cincinnati on Saturday.
In sweltering conditions over the 30-degree mark, Sundowns were down 4-1 when they mounted a strong comeback.
In fact, just two minutes after they had gone three goals down, Iqraam Rayners found the second for Sundowns.
The South African Betway Premiership champions continued to threaten until Lebo Mothiba found his side’s third going into added time. Dortmund were on the ropes by this stage, but ultimately were able to hold out for the win.
Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso said it was a difficult loss to take.
Cardoso Reflects on Sundowns’ Resilient Performance Against Borussia Dortmund
“I feel that. I feel a double emotion. The first one is that obviously we are not happy, and not being happy is a wonderful sensation at this moment. It means that we competed at the highest level and we do not feel happy after playing Borussia Dortmund,” said Cardoso.
“That’s some strange place to be, with big respect for Borussia. What I’m saying is that it was clear that today we pushed the level of the game to the maximum, to the highest level, and we had good play, an open game against such a strong opponent.”
The fact that Sundowns could compete strongly with Dortmund was certainly a feather in the cap of the Brazilians, said Cardoso.
“It’s important that people understand who Borussia Dortmund are, so that they can really highlight the quality of the game that was played today by Sundowns.
“We’re not happy, of course. But despite the loss, we are proud. I’m very proud of them, of the way the players played. I’m very proud of the resilience they had throughout the game, so that we could finish the game playing for a result, because as you saw, in the closing stages in the heads of the players from Dortmund, they just wanted to finish the game.
“We wanted to continue to fight for the victory. But we also need to understand that when we play teams like this, they will penalise any mistakes.”
@Michael_Sherman
Sport
