Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has confirmed that influential midfielder Lebohang Mokoena did not feature against TS Galaxy due to injury.
Masandawana rallied from a goal down to beat TS Galaxy 3-2 at Mbombela Stadium on Tuesday evening for their first three points of the 2026/27 Betway Premiership season.
Cardoso was not a happy man in his post-match presser, describing how the injury to the Bafana Bafana midfielder went unpunished, though he admitted that the lack of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in SA football makes it hard for the referees to see such unfortunate actions.
“Teboho Mokoena was today out for the match [vs TS Galaxy],” he said.
“I think that it’s important that South Africa understands that we have to protect our players.
“We cannot come from the World Cup and [a player] make [injury] contact off the ball with a national hero when he plays his first match on South African soil, we allow such aggressive action on him without even being penalised. It’s a rough one, very rough one. The player [Polokwane City player], he was not even yellow carded.
“But this is the injury that has prevented Teboho Mokoena. It was not even yellow card this action [injury on Tebza].”
Did you know that the iDiski Times Digital Newspaper is completely free! Download it now by clicking the button below or fill in the form to have it sent to you every week.