Sundowns’ injury-prone Coetzee eager to make up for lost time next season

Rivaldo Coetzee’s trouble with injuries are well-documented and this past season, he spent more time in the casualty ward than the field of play, and as a result, that automatically pushes him down the pecking order at Mamelodi Sundowns.

He is aware that when the team gears up for pre-season, he will need to up his game after missing out on plenty of game time as he was on the sidelines.

“My off-season won’t be much of an off-season, because I essentially had a two month break whilst the guys were finishing up the season.

“The main focus for me will be to get back on and start to take my rehab to the next level so that I can be ready when the team returns for pre-season,” Coetzee told sundowns fc.co.za.

“For me personally it wasn’t one of my best seasons. I started off the season well but I think towards the middle of the season just before my injury, the performance dropped a little bit for me and that’s how I feel. But obviously scoring a goal it’s always something that you want to do for your team and lucky for me I could get one goal this season,” he added.

Coetzee won his third league title with Downs and like many players at the club, helped Sundowns claim a domestic treble, becoming the only club to win every trophy on offer in a single season. While he does not rate his contribution highly, he is however grateful for winning three gold medals last season.

“For the club as a whole I think winning the treble is indescribable, not a lot of players have the opportunity to achieve that. Some guys may even play longer than you in the PSL but they don’t have the opportunity that we now have of celebrating a treble. I think credit must go to the team, it’s been a long, tough season but we stuck it out and managed to come back home with three domestic trophies,” said the Downs midfielder.