Miguel Cardoso addresses personal trophy drought in CV

The records made available suggest Cardoso has only won the Tunisian Premier League with Esperance de Tunis before getting sacked in October. 

But the Portuguese mentor has insisted there’s much more to his 30-year long coaching career than just trophies. 

"This discussion is really interesting because we live in a society and sport where people judge the CV's by trophies, but sometimes they forget that, in order to win, you not only need to be in the context where you can truly fight to win, but also sometimes winning is not only about getting trophies," said Cardoso.

The well-travelled 52-year-old reached several cup finals while coaching other clubs, including last season’s CAF Champions League with Esperance – which they lost to Al Ahly over two legs in May. 

Cardoso argued the road to those fixtures was also rewarding. 

"We won zero – I'm speaking about U19 Shakhtar Donetsk, I'm speaking about Europa League with Braga, I'm speaking of Champions League final with Esperance," he added.

"My God, being in those finals is such a big trophy that, when you look at my CV, don't judge because we lost that game, judge it because we won to arrive there.

"For you, probably to be here, there are many journalists that didn't arrive where you are, and probably you are not on the best TV channel, or on the best journal, but you are there because no one gave you this opportunity."

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