Rhulani Mokwena started his reign as sole head coach of Mamelodi Sundowns in the absolute best vogue when his facet thumped Maritzburg United 5-0 on Tuesday. Masandawana sit at the high of the home league desk with eight wins from their opening 11 video games, with the newest consequence actually coming as a much-needed increase after the membership’s elimination at the semi-final stage of the MTN8.
However, there have been a number of gamers dominated out of this match, together with high-profile Bolivian worldwide Erwin Saavedra. Earlier this 12 months, the midfielder shared an emotional message about his continued struggles with damage.
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He has solely featured briefly since arriving Chloorkop in a R20-million deal, with the gifted playmaker having been beset with knee damage troubles.
According to MTN FC, the newest recurrence of a knee damage will nonetheless hold him out of motion for “several months, according to club sources”.
Saavedra has nonetheless been unable to hit the floor operating at the begin of his time with Sundowns, and in an Instagram publish translated from Spanish just a few weeks in the past, he opened up about this unlucky damage scenario.
“For all the people who are being misinformed of my situation without knowing what is really happening, I must be the one to clarify that I am going through an injury that even I cannot understand or explain what I really feel.
“The people who know me and who saw my work up close they know that despite many injuries I was still playing, this is the first time I have an injury of this severity.
“I’m going to get through this and I’m sure I’ll come back stronger. I have faith and confidence that I am very close to my recovery. And all those who send me their messages of support I send them a hug and thank them a lot.”
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One of the different large query marks hovering over Sundowns has additionally been the absence of celebrity striker Peter Shalulile. Last week, Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena revealed that he was battling with a sophisticated muscular damage.
It comes at a time when some stories and rumours had instructed Shalulile was not coaching as he sought to make an exit from the membership, however on Tuesday night time, Mokwena emphatically dismissed this speak.
“Hopefully, we will get him back as soon as possible, but he is not available until the Fifa World Cup break is over. It was a bit of a difficult diagnosis related to sports hernia but not necessarily sports hernia, a bit complicated and that’s why he got to see three specialists.
“Fortunately, he is an incredible human being, he is a good boy and without putting too much pressure on him, you can expect him sooner than we anticipate. It is not as big as we initially thought and the surgery was successful and, hopefully, we can have him on the green grass sooner than we think.”
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The considerably fortuitous information is the proven fact that the 2022 FIFA World Cup break is round the nook, with competitors solely set to return simply earlier than the new 12 months, when there may be a really totally different damage situation for Shalulile.
Sundowns’ remaining sport earlier than the two-month Fifa break is in opposition to Royal AM at Chatsworth Stadium on Saturday (8pm).
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Sundowns made some large choices this week
In bombshell information on Monday, Sundowns introduced vital adjustments to their technical staff, with Mokwena changing into the sole head coach, and Manqoba Mngqithi ‘demoted’ to senior coach.
The membership brazenly admitted that the adjustments to their teaching setup have been ‘necessitated by the poor performances and unconvincing victories’.
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