Cardoso says Saleng’s brief cameo was “Proof of Trust” after long exile
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has described the decision to hand Monnapule Saleng a late substitute appearance as a deliberate show of trust.
This is after the winger made his first competitive outing of the season in Tuesday’s 1-0 Carling Knockout Cup win over Marumo Gallants.
Saleng, who joined Sundowns from Orlando Pirates, had been sidelined for months after a series of disciplinary breaches. Those included missing the CAF Champions League final second leg and failing to report for pre-season.
He spent a prolonged period training alone before the club — including Cardoso, the sporting director, captains and chairman — agreed to reintegrate him.
Speaking after the match at Loftus, Cardoso stressed that Sundowns do not exclude players from the process.
“First of all, I always told you that those are the values I found inside this club and those are the values I share and multiply with my players. We don’t allow ourselves to exclude a human being, a person, out of the process,” he said.
He confirmed Saleng had worked to address the issues and would now be judged purely on performance, like any other squad member.
“He made his effort,” continued Cardoso. “He will have his chances according to the performance that will be absolutely continuously evaluated like all the other players.
“And obviously if he becomes consistent, he will have more chances. If he has fluctuations, he will have less chances.”
Cardoso revealed that bringing Saleng on in the closing stages — rather than a more defensive option to protect the lead — was intentional.
“I think today we wanted to show him that we trust him and give him the energy to enter on the match. Maybe in the moment it would have been easy for me to put in one player to close the game.
“I still had the will to say ‘go there.’ It’s a proof of trust and a little bit of energy also to feel that we are here for him when he needs.”
Saleng’s return remains conditional. With stiff competition in attack, Cardoso has made clear that further opportunities will depend on sustained standards in training and matches.
The brief cameo marks the first concrete step in the winger’s attempt to rebuild his standing at Chloorkop.
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