Sundowns Star ‘Not Going Back Home’

Mamelodi Sundowns utility man Rivaldo Coetzee says he will remain at Chloorkop to ready himself for the second half of the season.

Coetzee, 26, made his senior international debut for South Africa nearly a decade ago and is widely considered one of the country’s most gifted players.

He saw a move to Glasgow Celtic fall through in 2017 over a foot injury which was said to have ended his professional football career.

But Sundowns handed him a chance where he underwent a special training and recovery program and subsequently converted into a defensive midfielder from his center-back role.

While he became an integral part of their starting eleven, a sports hernia injury kept him out for start of the 2022/23 season and he’s now on the mend and ready to make his impact felt in the second half of the campaign.

“I won’t be going home during this break period we’re having with the team. I’m going to be here in Joburg because I need to work a little bit more,” he told the club’s media team.

“I will be looking to work on strengthening mostly the area where I had surgery because there’s still work that needs to be done in order for me to be fully fit for games”.

The former Ajax Cape Town player is cognizant that major competition stands in his way but is grateful that the FIFA World Cup break will offer him an opportunity to improve his fitness, having featured in the recent Carling Black Label Cup as his ‘return to action’.

“I understand that I have to work hard for my place in the team and to be able to get some game time,” he added.

“With the FIFA World Cup break underway, I hope to achieve my fitness goal. The break will give me enough time to achieve the fitness goals I have set.”

Coetzee has won the MTN8, Nedbank Cup, Telkom Knockout and three league titles since his move to Masandawana from the Urban Warriors in 2017 in a reported R10-million deal.