Miguel Cardoso has retraced his steps to revisit comments he made about an 'almost empty' Loftus Versfeld Stadium during Mamelodi Sundowns' first leg of the CAF Champions League semi-final against Al Ahly.
The Portuguese mentor seemed to have irked a certain section of the fanbase after expressing his disappointment with the turnout at Loftus for the Champions League match against defending champions Al Ahly.
"I am very happy that our fans helped us, but it is so sad to see such a beautiful stadium almost empty when you have a semi-final of the Champions League," Cardoso said during the post-match press conference.
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"We should have a full stadium, supporting us, giving us the extra energy. That two or three percent pushes you to be in front."
The comments were met with reasonable confusion, particularly on social media, where plenty of footage shared revealed that despite not selling out the venue, the stadium had more than a decent turnout.
This, on Easter weekend.
Ahead of the second-leg clash at the Cairo International Stadium in Egypt on Friday, Cardoso has cleared the air.
"It's a pleasure to play in stadiums like these, like we had in Tunisia, like we had in Morocco and like we had in South Africa.
"Because I made that mistake [at Loftus] when I entered the pitch, it was not really full, but then it got full.
"And let me address that. When I entered the pitch, I looked at the stands, then I didn't look any more (later) and it was clear that the stadium [later] got full, or at least got very comfortable in terms of numbers.
"I made a mistake addressing that in the end. So, playing at Loftus with a lot of people and playing here with a lot of people, as in Tunisia and in Morocco, that's what we truly love," clarified the former Esperance mentor.
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In defeating Al Ahly, The Brazilians will be aiming to continue their quest for their first Champions League title since 2016 under Pitso Mosimane.
Kick-off is at 18:00 (SA time).
