GEORGE Maluleka is still trying to come to terms with the timing of his ankle injury - one that not only left Kaizer Chiefs without their dependable midfield workhorse at a crucial stage of the season, but also meant he’d miss out on potentially being part of Stuart Baxter’s new-look Bafana Bafana.
“Injuries are always heartbreaking,” said Maluleka. “I started very well this season and I had been helping the team, but I only have so much control. I think I came back too early in the match against Celtic and I aggravated the injury. But I am back in full training now.”
He could return to the starting line-up against Chippa United at FNB Stadium this afternoon in yet another PSL encounter Amakhosi simply have to win to have any chance of catching log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who have a seven point cushion.
“I am excited to be involved in the last five games,” Maluleka said. “If you are on the pitch and involved, you have that feeling that you could have made a difference. But that is how football goes. Sundowns have six games left now and, I won’t lie, I am hoping they drop points. Our only option now is to win all our games. We put ourselves in this situation because of how many points we dropped with the games we drew. If we won just four of the 12 games we drew, our story could be very different right now. Those draws felt like loses.”
Chiefs’ most significant defeat in the time 29-year-old Maluleka was on the sidelines was a 3-1 thumping by their rivals Orlando Pirates, with the draw at home against AmaZulu less damaging, although it gave both Sundowns and second placed Pirates an opportunity to break away.
The player also lamented being injured just weeks before national team coach Baxter picked a young team, with a few experienced heads, in a rebuilding process ahead of next year’s Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup in 2022.
“I think I was hopeful,” said Maluleka, although it is perhaps a disadvantage that at his age he does not have enough senior international experience. “I was hoping to be in the thick of things. I believe in myself, my ability and if an opportunity presents itself then I will make sure I go for it. The timing was just all wrong, but it’s one of those things.”
Another stumbling block is the competition in that Bafana midfield with Dean Furman, Andile Jali, Bongani Zungu, Kamohelo Mokotjo and new boy Siphesihle Ndlovu to name several players.
“We have a lot of quality players and I am very close with them - from Sundowns, Pirates and everywhere,” Maluleka said. “They are doing very well, but it is good for us, for the country, that there is a healthy competition. Even here at club level my teammates push me, we push each other to make sure we go to the maximum. It makes the team look strong.”
@superjourno