Cardoso rather surprisingly stepped up ahead upon Chiefs being awarded a penalty in their 1-1 draw with arch-rivals Orlando Pirates last weekend, but ultimately held his nerve to slot home.
Despite coming under widespread criticism in the first half of the season, the 29-year-old has explained his decision to take the onus upon himself, ahead of the likes of Khama Billiat and Leonardo Castro, on such a significant stage.
“I felt confident on the day and I thought I’d take my chances – you can either be a hero or you can be a villain, and on the day, I was a hero,” said Cardoso.
“At training, now and then I take penalties and free-kicks, and on the day, I just felt confident enough and believed in myself.
“They [Billiat and Castro] gave me the ball with open arms and said, ‘Go ahead!’
“I think you can imagine, the pressure was heavy, so if you’re not going to be confident and calm then it can all go wrong.”
The goal meant quite a lot to the Johannesburg-born former striker, regardless that it was only his second for Amakhosi or his first in nearly two years but rather because he was once affiliated to The Buccaneers through their feeder team Yebo Yes United.
“I wore those [Pirates] colours back in the day, but Vodacom League with Yebo Yes and the PSL now is a big difference,” he defended.
“But it was a memorable thing – it’s down in the history books and will never be forgotten. It’s just unfortunate that we didn’t hold out and win the game.”