Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso has called on his experienced senior players to step up against Al Ahly when they meet in the crucial CAF Champions League semifinal return leg at Cairo International Stadium tonight (6pm).

Sundowns will go into this match needing a score draw to progress to the final after the first leg in Tshwane last week finished goalless.

Cardoso wants senior players like Grant Kekana, Ronwen Williams, Teboho Mokoena, Aubrey Modiba and Peter Shalulile to step up and deliver favourable results, which will see Masandawana progress to their first final since 2016 when they won it.

Those players have experienced playing in hostile environments with Sundowns and Bafana Bafana in the past.

“It's a pleasure to play in stadiums like this, like we had in Tunisia, like we have been finding everywhere when we played the Champions League, such as Morocco and South Africa,” Cardoso told the media during the pre-match press conference in Cairo yesterday.

“Playing in Tshwane, here, Tunisia and Morocco with a lot of people, that's what we like to live. I played here last year [with Esperance in the final] and the stadium was full and we enjoyed it. We feel stronger and let's hope we can silence the crowd who will be booing us. It means we will be doing well."

Having played the Red Devils last year in the final before losing with Esperance, Cardoso said they are playing a different side compared to last year's, as he looks to get the better of them this time with Sundowns.

“We have a strong will to move forward and make something more. We know what type of game we are playing, we know what type of opponent we are facing and we are also aware of what type of game they are playing,” he said. 

“But strategically, as everybody saw, for example, in our first match, the team had a completely different approach because that's where we were at that moment. We are playing in the semifinal and the teams are playing for a result.

“Teams need to manage the moment and how to approach strategically the matches and we will wait to see what type of Al Ahly we will have.”