The long-awaited return of Thulani Serero to the Bafana Bafana set-up has not gone as smoothly as Stuart Baxter would’ve hoped for.
The Bafana coach said he was giving Serero a “second chance” after the Dutch-based playmaker was banned from the national team by former Safa chief executive Dennis Mumble for refusing to honour a call-up for a World Cup qualifier against Senegal.
But now, after the Vitesse Arnhem midfielder did not feature in his club’s 2-1 win over FC Utrecht on Saturday, Serero has arrived in the Bafana camp with what the team management described on the Safa website as a “slight injury”.
He trained on his own on Monday at Steyn City in Johannesburg, but “will join the rest of the team on Tuesday”.
Baxter will hope that the 27-year-old Serero is ready to play against Nigeria in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
@BafanaBafana1st training session underway at Steyn City this afternoon @itukhune16 pic.twitter.com/1HeUui49lJ
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) November 12, 2018
Bafana are desperate for a victory after an embarrassing 0-0 draw with the Seychelles away in their last qualifier.
Back-up goalkeeper Ronwen Williams is being monitored for the next two days due to a “minor setback”, while defender Thamsanqa Mkhize was given a break from training on Monday after playing 90 minutes for Cape Town City on Sunday in their 3-1 win over Black Leopards.
“Otherwise there are no new injuries, and I must say the day began very well,” said team doctor Thulani Ngwenya.
@BafanaBafana1st training session underway at Steyn City this afternoon pic.twitter.com/CSwfXPpwup
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) November 12, 2018
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