Miguel Cardoso: Lucas Ribeiro needs rest to be better

The Brazilian international scored his 12th goal of the Betway Premiership campaign on Saturday, when Downs beat Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 at Lucas Moripe Stadium.

Ribeiro produced a moment of brilliance in a tightly-contested affair, before being subbed off in the second half, with Cardoso then asked whether the 26-year-old can return to Europe and maybe even get a call-up from his national team. 

"You're putting two different standards on the table, huh? Because it's one thing to play in Europe and it's another thing to get into the Brazilian national team," responded Cardoso.

"Lucas is no doubt a quality player, no doubt, but he's a player that also needs freshness, I think he's a player that's very explosive, and to be explosive you need freshness.

"And he's trying to cope with the effort he's been giving, and in the best way we are trying to let him recover as much as possible between matches, but it has been very tough for him because explosive players are the ones who suffer most from fatigue."

"He's doing less number of explosive actions due to the fact that he's tired, but the ones he does, he does it with quality, and today he had a couple of them, and thanks to a fantastic individual technical execution he made a wonderful goal."

Having signed from Belgian second tier outfit SK Beveren in July 2023, Cardoso believes the club would not stand in the way of any offers for the 26-year-old.

"I hope he makes more years at the club, but I also hope one day he can express himself at a higher level, of course, because a coach always wants the best for the players," he added.

"I always tell them that I love to work with whoever you are, but in the end if you can go for better, please just go because it will make me a better coach if I promote the players.

"In the past it has happened like that, and I hope that in the future it will happen with some of Sundowns' players – if they want to go because maybe they want to stay."

READ: Sundowns coach applauds Kaizer Chiefs for tactical battle