Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has opened up about South Africa international Fawaaz Basadien’s situation at the Tshwane giants.
When the talented left-back joined Sundowns from Stellenbosch FC in July 2025, he was a regular in the Bafana Bafana squads, having helped the team qualify for the 2025 AFCON finals.
However, Basadien’s lack of game time at Masandawana has seen him lose his place in the national team and Cardoso has admitted that the 28-year-old is ‘struggling.’
“Fawaaz is obviously and I want you to understand the word I’m going to use, ‘struggling’ with the competition,” Cardoso said.
“He’s not struggling; all of them are struggling because there’s a lot of competition in the position. Asekho Tiwani is also struggling, Thato Sibiya is also struggling and Divine Lunga is also struggling.
“And Aubrey [Modiba] is at a very good level in the moment. Let’s hope he can continue, but we never know. So Fawaaz’s situation is more difficult because of the level of competition that’s in the position.”
Basadien has made just four appearances in the Betway Premiership for Sundowns this term, with the likes of Modiba and Lunga preferred ahead of him, and AFCON is set to start in December in Morocco.
Bafana are scheduled to take on Angola (22 December), Egypt (26 December) and Zimbabwe (29 December) in Group B.
