Bafana Bafana defender Thulani “Tyson” Hlatshwayo has been ruled out of the crucial final Group C clash against Ghana in the CAF Orange Africa Cup of Nations Equatorial Guinea 2015 tournament.
Bafana Bafana draw their match against Senegal 1-1 on Friday January 23 and left their fate in the other teams to pull them through to the next round, that if they can beat Ghana, which is a tall order on Tuesday.
“We should have won the game against Senegal and will have to win against Ghana to give us a chance to move to the next round,” said Head coach Shakes Mashaba after the match.
South Africa and the Black Stars go into battle on Tuesday January 27 at the Stade de Mongomo. The kick-off is at 20:00 South African time.
Hlatshwayo was substituted early in the first half of the second group stages match against Senegal after a clash of heads. His place was taken by Ayanda Gcaba.
“Hlatshwayo suffered concussion following that incident, which means his brain was shaken violently when he tried to head the ball, but ended up with a clash of heads with an opponent so he is out of the game on Tuesday. But we are hopeful he will be back for the next match should we go through the next round. At the moment he is still under the watchful eye of the medical department,” said Dr Thulani Ngwenya, Bafana Bafana medico.
Meanwhile, Rivaldo Coetzee has improved tremendously since he was stretchered off in the opening match of the tournament against Algeria. He missed the Senegal clash.
“We are going to do a late individual fitness test on him to see if he can train with the rest of the squad later today. However we are confident that he could be available for selection for the game against Ghana, but that will also be dependent on whether the coaching staff uses him or not.
“He has completed his rehabilitation and we are happy with the results. He is pain-free at the moment so the key is to see whether he can fully resume training,” said Dr Ngwenya.
Coetzee played only 29 minutes in the opening match of the African soccer showpiece. His place was taken by Siyabonga Nhlapho.
Bafana Bafana have two training sessions left before their match with Ghana – one took place on Sunday afternoon and the last one on Monday evening.
