Sundowns became the first African team to win in this edition of the expanded prestigious tournament, putting them at the top of Group F, as Borussia Dortmund and Fluminense drew 0-0 earlier.
Sundowns represent the African continent in the 32-team prestigious tournament alongside Egypt's Ahly, Tunisia's Esperance, and Morocco's Wydad.
In their first matches, Ahly tied the US side Inter Miami 0-0, and Esperance lost 2-0 to Brazil's Flamingo. Wydad are set to meet Manchester City on Wednesday.
"I think the first half was very beautiful, a lot of control... we didn't get the second goal and the pressure comes," Cardoso was quoted as saying by South African media after the match.
"But I think my players made a wonderful job, we are very proud, (it was) the first victory of an African team in the tournament,” he added.
Sundowns, which won the South African top flight title for eight consecutive seasons, finished runners-up in the CAF Champions League final earlier in June.
According to Cardoso Tuesday’s achievement didn’t come by chance, but after a series of hard work and commitment.
“It’s not easy to achieve victories. It was a long way until this moment. I think today we released a lot of energy, in the right way, before, during and after [the game],” the coach explained.
“We lived the right emotions. The team found the right place to start the match. We prepared it very well tactically and strategically.”
“Then we found the commitment from everybody that was important for us to win it, playing to the level of preparation we had,” he added.
Sundowns will face Dortmund on Saturday in the second round of the tournament’s group stage, and now all focus will be on passing the Germans successfully.
“Now that we’ve completed the opening match, the focus shifts to our upcoming second match,” the coach concluded.
- Find more details on group standings, match schedules, and competition statistics.
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