Big injury concern for Sundowns as they get good result during preseason camp

Mamelodi Sundowns have confirmed a big injury setback ahead of the new season as defender Rushine de Reuck is set for another lengthy spell on the sidelines. 

According to the club, De Reuck has sustained a serious knee injury from a freak incident at training and has already gone under the knife. 

The centre back also spent a good part of last season nursing a hamstring injury which resulted in him only playing 25 matches across the DStv Premiership, Caf Champions League, MTN8 and Nedbank Cup. 

The recent injury left the young defender in a painful situation and unable to join the Bafana Ba Style training camp in Europe, the club said. 

“It was a very freaky incident at training, and it was a pity because he had played the first match of the first friendly [matches] and he had played very well,” Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena said. 

“He returned in very, very good shape, but he landed awkwardly and then felt a very sharp pain in and around the knee. 

“Upon observation the doctors felt that instead of being very conservative, the time frame for the layout would be the same as a conservative approach and yet you could get probably greater long-term benefits if you weren’t a little bit more on the surgical route,” Mokwena said. 

“[After thorough] consultation with a knee specialist and with Rushine, we felt that the right approach was to go surgical. 

“The surgery went well, he is already home, and the players had him on the phone and we all wished him a speedy recovery. Hopefully he’ll be back in time to continue and make a great contribution to this season because he has got qualities for sure that make us believe that he can be one of our best centre backs.” 

Sundowns are currently in the Netherlands for their second part of preseason preparation and have already played Belgian side KAA Gent in a friendly match that ended in a 2-2 draw. 

Goals from Rivaldo Coetzee and new signing Lucas Ribeiro Costa gave Sundowns a 2-0 lead, but Gent fought back to secure a draw. 

While Sundowns assistant coach Manqoba Mngqithi feels there were positives to take from the game, he was not impressed with the way they threw away a two-goal lead. The coach felt they deserved to win the match. 

“The goals that we conceded I’m a little bit unhappy with because again they are just our elementary mistakes and it’s an area that we must really work very hard to improve because we end up drawing matches that we should have won,” Mngqithi said. 

“When you have scored two goals away from home there’s no expectation that you should not win that match. There are however a lot of other decisions that I’m not too sure about. 

“We still have to check the video, there was a goal by Peter [Shalulile] and I thought it was a very good goal, but it was judged offside.” 

Mngqithi was also impressed by the performance of new players such as goalscorer Costa and Junior Mendieta, who recently joined from Stellenbosch FC. 

“I am very impressed with Lucas, a technically unbelievable player who is going to score a lot of goals for us,” Mngqithi said. 

“He still has to work a lot in his intensity, in his defensive plays, pressing and all that, but offensively he’s adding a lot of value in what we have already. Then you’ve got Junior Mendieta, the hardest running offensive player who is going to complement Peter a lot with his pressing and he is going to complement even our set pieces because really, he is also very strong.”

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