Mamelodi Sundowns will have to negotiate their way through the shortest pre-season ever in preparing for the new season following their participation at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Sundowns’ 2024/25 campaign stretched all the way to the end of last month due to their participation at the Club World Cup playing their last game on June 25.
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The Brazilians then only got back home just a week ago which then officially marked the start of their off-season.
That off-season will go past mid-July with Sundowns only due to regroup just 10 days before they get into MTN8 action.
The top eight competition, which marks the start of the season, will get underway on August 1.
Then the following weekend the Betway Premiership kicks off with Sundowns taking aim at their ninth league title in a row.
They will also be involved in the CAF Champions League, Carling KnockOut Cup, and the Nedbank Cup.
Still to do any confirmed inward transfer business, Sundowns will have the benefit of making their decisions until September 22 when the domestic window closes.
This will be the first pre-season for Miguel Cardoso who only joined the club in December but will return minus his second in command João Araújo.
As was expected, Cardoso won the league but then couldn’t complete the CAF Champions League job after guiding Sundowns to their first final since lifting the trophy in 2016.
The Portuguese then led The Brazilians to their first ever victory at the Club World Cup.
That Club World Cup win also elevated Cardoso to joint-top (along Rulani Mokwena) for the quickest run to 25 wins at the club since the turn of the new millennium.
Cardoso needed only 36 games to achieve this feat, which came amid the usual stones thrown at him from armchair critics.
From the first match that they played in starting the 2024/25 season, The Brazilians counted 56 matches which included five trips to North Africa during the CAF Champions League.
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Both their biggest rivals – Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates – are already back in training.
Chiefs have travelled to Holland where they will set base until July 19 while Pirates will be in Marbella, Spain from July 8-20.
Photo: Megan Briggs/Getty Images
