Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has insisted that several of his Bafana Bafana players have some injury concerns after their return from the Africa Cup of Nations, with even goalkeeper Ronwen Williams doubtful.
Masandawana return to action on Saturday when they will host Orlando Pirates in a highly-expected clash at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
Sundowns had 10 players in the Bafana squad, which finished in third place at the 2023 AFCON and many expected them to return on a high, but Mokwena revealed that it will probably take some time to reintegrate them.
“I think with the Bafana players, we’ve got a couple of concerns. We’ve got a few players that have returned back with injuries and and that might delay their return [for us],” he told journalists.
“Because now we’ve got to deal with and of course, when you have that type of program, I mean they said they played 30 games in five months for Sundowns, and you put maybe an extra four or five games for the World Cup qualifiers, for the friendlies that Bafana played during the FIFA breaks, so you’re talking about 35, 36 games in five in five months.
“So it’s very difficult, plus the seven [from AFCON], so you go to about 42 games and that’s difficult. And with that comes, of course, it’s a wear and tear, you know it’s your car, you drive more kilometers, you’re going to have to change the fuse and the battery, and maybe get a new pair of tires or refresh the oil has to change, the petrol has to be put in, maybe the battery needs to be recharged.
“And so we have some concerns with Motobi [Mvala], we have some concerns with [Thapelo] Maseko. We have some concerns with Mshishi. We have some concerns with Teboho [Mokoena] and [Khuliso] Mudau, and with Mudau it’s also the ankle, so there’s some concerns there.
“And they’ve got to start now the rehabilitation phase, but also a regeneration phase because they’ve got to flush out the stress and the pressures of the tournament of that magnitude.
“And so psychologically, there needs to be some some work done there and refreshing of the mind, and so they’re ready to be competitive again. And we’ve also got concerns with Ronza with the shoulder. But let’s see.”
