Mahlambi withdrawn from Amajita squad

According to Safa, Mahlambi sustained the injury while training with his club.

Mahlambi’s place in the squad has been taken by Ajax Cape Town defender Sirgio Kammies.

“Judging from the evidence revealed by the Ultrasound film that has been sent by Mahlambi’s club and has been forwarded to the Fifa medical office, the player’s injury is very significant and unfortunately can’t be managed before any of our World Cup games.

“Surgery would be a better option to enhance recovery, however, he will still not be ready for this World Cup, and it is for this reason that he has been withdrawn,” Amajita team doctor Thulani Ngwenya told the Safa website.

Amajita coach Thabo Senong explained why they opted to replace Mahlambi with a defender.

“It is very unfortunate that Phakamani can’t be with us, but we have to forge ahead. We would like to wish him a speedy recovery. This has also given us a chance to re-evaluate our squad, so we decided to call up Sirgio Kammies so as to add numbers to our defence because we feel that we have enough strength in attack.

“Kammies was part of the team’s preparations prior to the U20 Afcon tournament in Zambia earlier this year as well as the World Cup, so he knows the team and how we operate. Obviously, it will take him a few days to adapt to the different timezone and weather conditions, but we will monitor him daily and see how he performs at training.”

Amajita will start their Group D campaign against Japan on Sunday at 10am (SA time).