Posted in Cool News, Features, News on Feb 01, 2018.
- Daniel Cardoso was born in Regents Park in the deep south of Johannesburg. It’s a rough environment. “I was always focused on all kinds of sports,” the centre-back says, “so I managed to stay away from that.”
- He dropped out of school in grade nine, deciding to follow his dream of becoming a professional footballer. “However, nowadays, I always urge people to stay at school, it’s important to have an education,” the 29-year-old highlights.
- Cardoso was at a variety of youth academies, including Jomo Cosmos (working with Roy Matthews and Jomo Sono), Orlando Pirates (Augusto Palacios) and BidBoys (Eric Tinkler). Most development coaches didn’t see much potential in the hardworking youngster and released him. Tinkler even explained to Daniel, “You lack the qualities to play professional football.” This was a tough message to receive, but it made him even more determined to succeed.
- To be fair, Tinkler later told him, “I am happy you made it.” The present SuperSport United coach was also the one who moved Cardoso from a striker position to a defensive role. “I had always been a striker, scoring quite a number of goals,” he reflects, “so I wasn’t too happy at first. But it eventually worked out well. I love this position, because of the responsibilities and the demands it comes with.
- Besides his late father Antonio, another who believed in Cardoso’s qualities was Chiefs’ former left-back Bradley Carnell. “I was at some stage without a club and participated in a tournament in Soweto. Bradley saw me play. He was thereafter always convinced that I would make it and started to help me.”
- Daniel was about to retire when his father pushed him to try one last time, a trial at Free State Stars. It would be a turning point in his luck to succeed as a professional soccer player. The coach was Steve Komphela. “He gave me my breakthrough,” Cardoso reflects. “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
- His father suddenly passed away on 11 June 2016, dying from a heart-attack. “I still miss him every day. Luckily he was still alive to see me play for Kaizer Chiefs and the South African national team.”
- To remember his father, Cardoso got two tattoos. The one is on his left arm. It shows a young boy with a soccer ball under his arm (Daniel) with jersey number 49 (the age his dad was when he passed away). The kid is walking towards the goal which has three jerseys hanging on the crossbar with the numbers 4 (the jersey number at Kaizer Chiefs), 3 (Free State Stars) and 17 (University of Pretoria). The other tattoo is on his left chest. It’s a portrait of Antonio. “That way my father is close to my heart and will be there forever.”
- Daniel’s biggest hobby is fishing. “It relaxes me and takes my mind off a lot of things.” His favourite spots are the Vaal River, the Vaal Dam or fresh-water areas close to Parys.
- He loves pets. “I am a big animal lover.” Cardoso has two dogs, a six-year-old Labrador and a nine-month old Pit-bull.
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