On Friday evening Bafana Bafana face Senegal in the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers at Polokwane Stadium.
‘Itu’ hurt himself after sustaining a facial injury after colliding with Chippa United’s Kurt Leintjies during the Telkom Quarterfinals and had to be whisked off to hospital immediately for observation.
According to the team’s medical team, the injury is not bad as they projected but had to establish facts before concluding otherwise.
Being patriotic as he is ‘Itu’, has requested the medic to use the protective mask for the game, an indication that the boy’s dream is to see his team booking a flight to Russia in 2018, after seeing a facial specialist.
This is good news for stressed out head coach Stuart Baxter, who is worried about the arrival of player’s into camp but at the time of publishing it has been learnt all his soldiers have reported for duty.
“Itu himself has asked us to prepare a mask‚ which means he’s hopeful.
“But that could be enthusiasm and ambition.
“The final decision will rest with the medical people,” says Baxter.
Bafana need to beat Senegal on Friday and then win again in their return fixture next Tuesday in Senegal in order to book their place in qualifiers, while a single point for Senegal should be enough to guarantee their qualification.
Kick-off is at 19:00.