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Long-term injury absentee Rivaldo Coetzee was back in the action over the weekend when he featured for the Mamelodi Sundowns reserve team in a 3-0 win over Maritzburg United.
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Coetzee is yet to play a competitive first team match for Masandawana after signing from Ajax Cape Town in August 2017, with the Bafana Bafana defender also having seen a deal to Scottish giants Glasgow Celtic fall through, due to a severe foot injury.
There has been recent speculation that the Bafana Bafana central defender may never be able to play again.
Sundowns head coach Pitso Mosimane just last week voiced his concern over the 21-year-old's future.
"We can't do anything, we have to wait. He is kicking a little bit, he is touching the ball, he is coming up, 'pain, coach, pain,' sometimes he is okay, (but) I feel sorry, what a talent hey," Mosimane was quoted as saying.
"But we at Sundowns, we are patient, it is not easy when you spend so much money on him, but that is football.
"I told him that he needs to pray a lot, maybe these things can change you never know."
It was therefore a surprise to see Coetzee taking to the field for Sundowns' Multichoice Diski Challenge (MDC) match against Maritzburg at the Mpumalanga Stadium in Hammarsdale, where goals from Vuyo Mantjie, Promise Mkhuma and Khayelihle Shozi sealed a 3-0 win for the Tshwane team.
Whether Coetzee is fully on the road to recovery will remain to be seen, as he has reportedly had to take pain-killing injections before taking to the field for training.
