Jose Riveiro has given an update on the condition of Zakhele Lepasa and responded to rumours of a fallout after the Orlando Pirates striker left the Bafana Bafana camp on Saturday.
There had been speculation of a fallout after Lepasa’s sudden Bafana departure, but the national team later explained it was due to an injury.
Lepasa had briefly featured in the friendly against eSwatini on Friday but did not travel with the national team to Ivory Coast for Tuesday’s game.
Riveiro didn’t want to be drawn into any speculation but confirmed that Lepasa was injured and was carrying a knock even before the MTN8 final.
“You have to understand that I’m not aware of the speculation around the case because I don’t read, I don’t watch, I don’t know exactly what happened,” Riveiro told journalists.
“What I know is that Zakes came back from the camp Saturday, if I’m not mistaken, last Saturday in the morning, due to the injury.
“To be honest, he did have some problems before the [MTN8] final. We were really taking care of Zakhele in the previous days before the final, he was not one hundred percent until the final day.
“And he finished the game, again, not 100% but he made it to be in the national team camp.
“What happened in the national team camp? It’s not in my knowledge. It’s something that I don’t know. But I don’t think that it’s a good idea to speculate about the health of the players.
“If Zakes didn’t complete the national team, you can trust me that is because he was not 100% and the doctors and the physios decided that the best for the player is to come back with us.
“There’s no doubt about that Zakes was not 100% was injury, I can tell you. He’s getting better, but he’s not 100% sure that he’s gonna make it to play on Friday for us.”
