WATCH | ‘He’s so big a human being’: Downs coach insists Mshishi is still key for the club
Mamelodi Sundowns tactician Miguel Cardoso insists that 37-year-old playmaker Themba “Mshishi” Zwane is still important for the Brazilians, despite using him sparingly in recent times, where he has also struggled with fitness.
Zwane, who inked a new one-year deal with the club three months ago, has played just 19 minutes of Sundowns’ three games so far this season.
WATCH | Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso insists 37-year-old playmaker Themba “Mshishi” Zwane is still a very important player for the club, despite using him sparingly in recent times. pic.twitter.com/AqbCOmP4Dy— Sowetan (@Sowetan1981) August 18, 2026
“Themba is a very important player for us. He is still an important player by what he can do on any pitch. You remember the first match he played in the MTN8 Cup [against Polokwane City, where they won 3-2 after extra time two weeks ago],” Cardoso said.
“He entered [in the last 19 minutes of the game], he picked the ball in the back, he made two or three combinations, and he progressed the ball together with other players. That combination created an assist for the goal.”
The Sundowns coach also reiterated that they never look at Zwane’s age, also lauding the Bafana Bafana playmaker’s “silent leadership” traits.
“So … having Themba in the squad, we look at him just as a number. Not, well, as a number like the others, but as a player that you cannot think about. Age is not that; age is not simply like that,” Cardoso said.
“But he is much more important than that. Exactly by the example of his silent leadership. For example, by the way he commits, by the way of everything he does on a regular basis because he trains wonderfully every day.
“Of course, I had a talk with him, but he is so big as a human being that it was not me calling him; it was him coming to me.”
Zwane boasts an impressive 446 appearances for Sundowns, scoring 80 goals with 62 assists.
It remains to be seen whether the veteran playmaker will feature when the Tshwane giants host Marumo Gallants in the league match at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday night (7.30pm).