Business Day

Sundowns to show their hand soon

- MARK GLEESON Cape Town

CHAMPIONS Mamelodi Sundowns are expected to show over the coming days which foreign signings they will use in the Premier Soccer League this season and which they will move out of the club.

For a second successive season free-spending Sundowns have more foreigners on their books than the five-per-club limit.

It leaves coach Pitso Mosimane with a difficult choice, with one player from the recent World Cup in Brazil likely to miss out.

The club have already registered three of the five foreign players for the new campaign but used only one of them to date.

Mame Niang of Senegal looks to be a likely regular in attack for this season after moving from SuperSport United.

Zimbabwean internatio­nals Kudakwashe Mahachi and Cuthbert Malajila have also been registered.

Winger Mahachi has been on the bench and striker Malajila has been recovering from injury.

That leaves two players for Mosimane to decide on before the deadline on Friday next week.

It would be a surprise if one slot did not go to Zimbabwean Khama Biliat, who broke a foot in February but is expected back soon.

Sundowns’ other foreigners are Mumuni Abubakar and Rashid Sumaila (Ghana), Hamsa Hamidu and Ejike Uzoenyi (Nigeria), Emmanuel Mathias (Nigeria-Togo) and Hichane Himonde of Zambia.

The 26-year-old Uzoenyi signed for Sundowns after being named player of the Chan tournament in Cape Town at the start of the year, but has stayed in Nigeria for the past six months at Enugu Rangers.

He was a late injury replacemen­t for the World Cup and played in the 1-0 group match against Bosnia and Herzegovin­a in Cuiaba, as a 75thminute substitute.

The 21-year-old Sumaila also went to the World Cup with Ghana but did not play. He has eight caps for the Black Stars and was in the back four for Sundowns last season, starting in 17 league games. But he was never convincing and oftentimes more of a liability than an asset for Sundowns, and could get the chop.

Zambian defender Himonde, a member of the 2012 African Nations Cup winning squad, was signed by Sundowns in February and played in their post-season Namibian tour.

The 27-year-old Himonde and Mathias were loaned by Sundowns to Zesco United earlier this year.

Sundowns signed Mathias a year ago but have never used him. He is Nigeria-born but played for Togo’s national team and had a spell with Tunisian giants Esperance.

Abubakar was loaned to Black Leopards in the National First Division last season and Hamidu has been training with the club for several months.

Sundowns also have another five foreign internatio­nals on their books but Anthony Laffor (Liberia), Kennedy Mweene (Zambia), Esrom Nyandoro (Zimbabwe), Dennis Onyango (Uganda) and Elias Pelembe (Mozambique) all have South Africanas residency and/or citizenshi­p and they are no longer counted as foreigners.

Dutchman Alje Schut got instant permanent residence in SA by controvers­ially obtaining a visa for wealthy individual­s.

 ??  ?? Pitso Mosimane
Pitso Mosimane

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