Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler said his star defender Nathan Fasika should be back in either October or November because the Anterior Cruciate Ligament tear he sustained was a very bad one.
Fasika, who starred with the side that reached the MTN8 final and also finished second, suffered a major blow in October and sources said he was going to be out for the rest of the season.
Aware that Fasika had suffered a bad knee injury, City moved quickly to sign Lorenzo Gordinho to ensure they have some cover when the season resumes in December, post the FIFA World Cup break.
Fasika joined the Cape Town club from FC Saint Eloi Lupopo in his homeland at the beginning of last season on a contract that will expire at the end of the 2025/26 season.
The 24-year-old quickly hit the ground running, helping City in his first season reach the MTN8 final, where they lost to Mamelodi Sundowns on penalties.
His strength and power were also important when City had their best-ever league campaign, as they finished as the runners-up to Sundowns, with Fasika featuring in 27 matches in all competitions and scoring one goal in the process.
This season, Fasika featured in 12 matches in all competitions, scoring once which came against Kaizer Chiefs in August.
“Fasika is still injured, still training with us. He’s actually now starting to do field work, some running,” said Tinkler.
“But Fasika is still going to be out for quite a while because it was quite a bad ACL injury. We just wish him all the best to come back as soon as possible.
“But he’s training very hard, doing a lot of rehab with our physio. He should be back, hopefully, October, or November.”
Tinkler said it is why his side lost the first three league matches of the season which put too much pressure on him, adding it was beyond him when the Congo international was held back home:
“[He] was sitting in Congo, couldn’t get back in the country because of passport issues.”
– Advertisement –
Despite Fasika’s absence, City is lying fifth in the DStv Premiership with 39 points after 28 matches.
The club’s next two matches are against Richards Bay (13 May away) and Kaizer Chiefs also away (20 May).
