There is increasing trepidation around the condition of Ajax Cape Town striker Prince Nxumalo.
Ajax host Kaizer Chiefs in a PSL fixture at the Cape Town Stadium tomorrow night (kick-off 8.15pm) and Nxumalo, who was called up to the Bafana Bafana squad earlier this week, will definitely play no part.
The 25-year-old is expected to be spend the next few days in hospital undergoing a series of tests in a bid to find a solution to his medical problems.
On Wednesday night, Ajax conceded a late, injury-time goal to lose 3-2 to Mamelodi Sundowns in Atteridgeville. Nxumalo was named in the starting team, but, as early as the warm-up, his teammates and coaches could see he wasn’t well. He wasn’t responding to anything, and was completely out of it. It was reportedly something to do with an epileptic fit he suffered last month. The player was immediately taken to hospital, but discharged later.
Yesterday morning, though, before Ajax’s departure back to the Mother City, Nxumalo suffered yet another seizure and had to be quickly rushed back to hospital.
Last month, the night before the MTN8 semi-final against Wits, Nxumalo’s epileptic fits first surfaced. He spent a few days in intensive care. When discharged, he was given medication to treat the seizures and subsequently given the go-ahead to commence training. Such had been his work at training over the last two weeks, and based on medical advice, Ajax coach Roger de Sa deemed the player ready to start against Sundowns on Wednesday.
But with the problem recurring, it’s become a very serious issue, hence the battery of tests the striker now has to undergo.
It also means that Nxumalo will certainly be withdrawn from the Bafana Bafana squad scheduled to play away friendlies against Costa Rica and Honduras next month.
Assistant-coach Ian Taylor acknowledged that Ajax were poor in the defeat to Sundowns, but pointed out that the situation with Nxumalo had a profound effect on the players.
“We never played well, we weren’t at our best,” said Taylor. “So I don’t want to use Prince as an excuse, but it was tough on them, especially as it happened during the warm-up. They were affected, there’s no doubt about it … that’s why we started so slowly and only got back into it later in the match.
“And then, to crown it all, at half-time we had Abbubaker Mobara vomiting and complaining of headaches … we then had to substitute him as we couldn’t take the risk of dehydration.”
But Ajax will have to quickly put the Sundowns loss behind them. And, while they will have Nxumalo’s condition on their minds, they cannot allow it to affect them as they prepare to face Chiefs tomorrow.
The Cape side defeated the Soweto club in the MTN8 final in Port Elizabeth last week, but it will be a different set of circumstances this time.
“We will, obviously, have to assess the squad before we make the final team selection,” said Taylor. “We’ll have to look at the niggles and strains, and see who’s fresh …
“But we know we can expect a revved up Chiefs. They’ll be wound by the Cup final defeat and they also only managed a 1-1 draw with Tuks on Wednesday. They’ll be motivated, for sure. But we’ll have to try to do things a little differently. They’ll be prepared for the game plan we used in the Cup final, so we’ll have to tweak things a touch, so as not to be too predictable. They’ll be ready for us, so we’ll have to throw something new at them.
“Most importantly, though, we have to get back to winning ways. The defeat on Wednesday was disappointing. We were looking good for a draw, which we would have been happy with, and then Sundowns scored the late goal. But we’ve always done well at home and a packed Cape Town Stadium is perhaps just the right stage for the squad to redeem itself.”
On a positive note for Ajax ahead of the clash with Chiefs, teenage central defender Rivaldo Coetzee returns from suspension – and that’s a major boost to their chances of victory.
FIXTURES
Today: Chippa United v Polokwane City
Tomorrow: SuperSport United v Platinum Stars; Free State Stars v Wits; Ajax Cape Town v Kaizer Chiefs (Cape Town Stadium, 8.15pm)
Sunday: University of Pretoria v Bloemfontein Celtic; Jomo Cosmos v Mamelodi Sundowns; Black Aces v Maritzburg Utd - The Star