SOUTH African champions Mamelodi Sundowns, who will compete in next year’s Club World Cup in the United States, named Portuguese Miguel Cardoso as their new manager yesterday after firing Manqoba Mngqithi.

It is the second coaching change in six months for the Pretoria club, owned by the family of Confederation of African Football president Patrice Motsepe.

Cardoso, 52, is a former coach at Rio Ave in Portugal, Nantes in France, La Liga outfit Celta Vigo and AEK Athens.

Last season he took the Tunisian club Esperance to the African Champions League final but was fired in October after a poor start to the new season.

Mngqithi’s departure follows Sundowns drawing their opening two matches of the group phase of this season’s Champions League and a shock loss in last month’s South African League Cup final.

He had taken over in July from Rulani Mokwena, who was sacked despite winning the league by a record 23-point margin.

At the Club World Cup next June, Sundowns are in Group F with Borussia Dortmund, Fluminense and South Korean club Ulsan HD.

Meanwhile, rebels toppling the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad prompted the country's soccer federation to change the colour of the national team's kit and logo from red to green.

Syrian rebels seized the capital Damascus unopposed on Sunday after a lightning advance that sent Assad fleeing to Russia after a 13-year civil war and six decades of his family's autocratic rule.

As the events unfolded, the Syrian soccer federation announced it was changing the colour of its logo and the kit of the men’s first team.

“Our new national team uniform,” the Syrian football federation posted on Facebook alongside a photo of several players clad in green.

“The first historic change to happen in the history of Syrian sports, far from nepotism, favouritism and corruption,” it added.

REUTERS