Mothiba Backed: ‘Lebo Is Showing Character’
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Lebo Mothiba has not had the easiest of times at Mamelodi Sundowns, but one thing he does have is the backing of his coach Miguel Cardoso.
Mothiba was handed an opportunity to start for the first time this season when Sundowns took on Golden Arrows in the MTN8 first leg semi-final at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Sunday, starting ahead of Brayan Leon who was on the bench.
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The former Strasbourg striker had a glorious opportunity to put Sundowns ahead in the first half with just Arrows goalkeeper Edward Maova to beat, but he was unable to convert from close range, prompting a section of the home side’s supporters to call for him to be substituted.
Since joining Sundowns towards the end of the 2024/25 campaign, Mothiba has scored just two goals.
One of those goals was at the FIFA World Cup last year and the other came during the 2025/26 season, a campaign in which he made 17 appearances in all competitions.
“I try to make the best for all my players,” Cardoso told media after the match in Atteridgeville.
The Portuguese coach said he and his technical team work hard on showing belief to their players.
“You saw how I supported him in a moment that was difficult because he did a situation where it could have happened a goal, but it was not the only one. There were many throughout the match that did not happen goals.”
Cardoso recalled a time when Lucas Ribeiro was not scoring goals and the media was questioning why he couldn’t score.
“I said one day it will come and he will score one after the other and it happened. Strikers it’s a little bit like that, but also Lebo has not been the first option as you know.”
“Bryan, together with Iqraam, were the first option, so it’s normal when a player does not play consistently that to come on a match it’s difficult to bring the rhythm. Lebo is showing character,” Cardoso said of the bulky striker.
“He made very good training matches and scoring on them, so he gave us all the energy. As you may understand, Brayan came from a pre-season where he didn’t have a chance to train consistently and we played three matches in a row, so it was absolutely normal that we had to rotate. Brayan was too tired and I think he was still too tired in the second half, not as fresh as we would like to have him.”
Mothiba is unlikely to get the nod upfront when Sundowns take on AmaZulu in the Betway Premiership at Loftus Stadium on Wednesday.
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