Peter Shalulile shares reasons behind return to form

The Namibian forward instead credits the squad for his recent purple patch, which includes back-to-back goals in the final two group stage matches away to AS Maniema and at home to AS FAR. 

Shalulile had been playing second fiddle to Iqraam Rayners and Artur Sales in attack until recently, forcing him to roll back the years with two big performances. 

The 31-year-old, who is in the final year of his Sundowns contract, explained why he has found his scoring boots again. 

"It's all about hard work, making sure we are one, and to understand what the coach wants from us, so we can do what the coach wants us to do, and that's why you can see we are ticking and finding our feet now," said Shalulile.

The former Highlands Park goal poacher adds that coach Miguel Cardoso’s approach is also starting to make sense to the players following his appointment early last month.

Shalulile also says it’s a big plus that the Portuguese mentor reached the final of the Champions League with Esperance de Tunis last season.

"You should take what you're given, every year has a different season in it, and this year we ended second [in the group], but we'll take it and we'll move on and see what we can do now that we're in the knockout stage," he added.

"[Cardoso] has been there, he knows exactly what is required at every level, so with him coming in, it's helped us in terms of how the people in West and North Africa play, and he's bringing that into our game, which is really paying off.

"Change is good, but not that much – it's something that came in that is different. When you start a bus, it does not start that well, but eventually it takes time to tick, as you can see now we've found our feet, and we know how to move and what the coach wants from us."

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