Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso said they were not concerned about finishing second in their African Champions League group, even after the club were only five minutes away from the top place in group B.

Sundowns got caught by a late sucker punch in Sunday’s final group game against Royal Armed Forces of Morocco and held to a 1-1 home draw, which was enough to see them qualify for the quarterfinals but denied them top place.

Had they held on, however, to their early lead, after Peter Shalulile’s opener, they would have finished top of the group and potentially got themselves an advantageous quarterfinal draw.

But Cardoso said it did not matter that Sundowns were second in the group.

“We all understand that the teams are all equal in the next round, very equal,” he insisted after the clash at Loftus Versfeld.

“And because of that being first or second, eventually is not a big difference. The teams are even in terms of the capacity. They are very, very strong, all of them.”

The points are shared and off to the quater finals we go! A huge shoutout to the supporters for turning Loftus yellow 💛

Mamelodi Sundowns (12’ Shalulile) 1️⃣➖1️⃣ AS FAR (82’ Zahzouh)#Sundowns #TotalEnergiesCAFCL #RabatsenaGape pic.twitter.com/hyZPLds9eN

— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) January 19, 2025

Cardoso said the home draw was not a bad result.

“We should not confuse that emotion (of conceding a late goal) with the sensation that we did a bad job. That's completely, completely the opposite.

“The fact that you are not happy because you conceded the goal makes you feel like it’s a defeat. But it's not a defeat. It's the result that we were looking for.

“We didn't lose. We got a result. Everybody asked us to get a result that could make us go through to the group stage and we did it,” Cardoso added.

For the last time, review the final #TotalEnergiesCAFCL standings. Where does your team stand? 🔥 pic.twitter.com/YPzt7mIsSH

— TotalEnergies CAFCL & CAFCC 🏆 (@CAFCLCC) January 19, 2025