Miguel Cardoso has catapulted himself to a position of substance at Mamelodi Sundowns following Wednesday’s win over South Korean champions Ulsan UD.
That victory will be engraved as having been Sundowns’ first ever at the FIFA Club World Cup.
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That win has also elevated to joint-top for the quickest run to 25 wins at the club since the turn of the new millennium.
Cardoso has needed only 36 games to achieve this feat, which has come amid the usual criticism.
The Portuguese has been at Sundowns since December last year, winning the Betway Premiership, losing the CAF Champions League final and coming stuck in the Nedbank Cup semi-finals.
This is exactly how long it also took Rulani Mokwena to reach 25 wins as the stand-alone head coach at the club.
Mokwena took charge of the dressing room in October 2022 after Manqoba Mngqithi was pushed aside from the co-head coaching role they had shared.
After winning his first 14 in a row, he piled up his victory total to 25 in August 2023.
This was 36 games to the dot.
Prior to that, the arrangement of Mngqithi and Mokwena as co-coaches after Pitso Mosimane left had 22 wins after 36 matches.
They got to 25 wins after 40 games in charge.
Before then, it was Mosimane.
He took over from the late Johan Neeskens at the beginning of December 2012 after the Telkom Knockout final defeat to Bloemfontein Celtic.
Considering the circumstances at Sundowns – who were second from bottom in the league – it was normal that Mosimane would have it slow and had to wait until March 2014 to reach 25 wins.
That was a journey of 47 matches.
However, fact is that Mosimane then made Sundowns a better team, laying the foundation to all the success that they now enjoy.
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The long list of men who have sat on the bench as coaches (caretaker and permanent) at Sundowns since January 2000 has Paul Dolezar, Peter Koutroulis and Neil Tovey, Dolezar again, Clemens Westerhof, Tovey again, Dolezar again, Tovey again, Ted Dumitru, Shane MacGregor, Viktor Bondarenko, Djalma Cavalcante, and Roger Feutmba.
Upon Patrice Motsepe taking over control of the club, it has been Luis Oscar Fullone, Khabo Zondo, Dolezar yet again, Angel Cappa, Miguel Gamondi and Tovey, Gordon Igesund, Trott Moloto, Henri Michel, Dumitru again, Hristo Stoichkov, Moloto again, Antonio Lopez, Ian Gorowa, and Neeskens.
Then came Mosimane.
