Mamelodi Sundowns' hiring of a Portuguese contingent has gone from the roots to the top following the arrival of new head coach Miguel Cardoso last week Tuesday.
The arrival of Flemming Berg as Sporting Director at Sundowns just over two years ago has come with sweeping changes in the structures at the club.
Following the departure of Shaun Bishop as Head of Academy in July last year, having spent 12 years in various roles at Chloorkop, Portuguese coach Paulo Cardoso was brought in two months later.
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He is in charge of the development academy at the club.
Paulo Cardoso is attributed to have worked with likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Bruma in their youth development, during his formative years as a coach in Portugal, before holding technical roles at clubs such as Sporting CP, CSKA Sofia and a consultant for the Portuguese FA, among others.
One of the biggest decisions made in the development space at the Tshwane giants since Paulo Cardoso was appointed was doing away with feeder teams associated with the club in the lower ranks, after they sold M-Tigers' ABC Motsepe League status to TUT FC.
The move attracted controversy in some quarters, as M-Tigers produced in the past players such as Percy Tau, Keagan Dolly and Themba Zwane, especially after Berg commented that "it makes no sense" to keep 23-, 24-, 25-year-olds with the hope they can still make it in the senior team.
Depending on how long Miguel Cardoso lasts, there could be a good synergy with compatriot Paulo Cardoso in charge of development, even at the expense of a combined over 20-year service of Manqoba Mngqithi and Wendell Robinson.
The former Esperance de Tunis coach has also brought an all-Portuguese technical team, in assistant coaches Fabio Fernandes, Pedro Azevedo and Joao Araujo, who will be complemented by Steve Komphela and Kennedy Mweene.
Fernandes will be his most trusted and first assistant, with more experience than the other two, having held senior roles such as Sporting Director at Rio Ave, a club he came through the ranks with in the development.
The latter also notably was fitness coach for Burkina Faso between 2016 and 2018 and was also assistant to Cardoso at Esperance.
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Azevedo, meanwhile, specializes as a video analyst, having worked in that role at Portuguese clubs Vitoria Guimaraes, Tondela as well as at Zamalek, among other clubs, and was last at Brazilian second-tier outfit Sport Recife.
Araujo's speciality is match analysis, having worked in that role at Porto youth and Primeira Liga outfits Rio Ave, Moreirense and Braga, before he joined Cardoso at Esperance three months before he was relieved of his duties in October this year.