PROFILE

By Nick Said

Mamelodi Sundowns defender Rivaldo Coetzee made a welcome return from injury last week after 16 months on the sidelines and facing the prospect of never playing professionally again.

The 22-year-old had seen his career threatened by a serious foot injury, that was only picked up when he was due to make a dream move to Scottish Premier League side Celtic last year.

When the Glasgow side pulled out of the deal because of the injury, Sundowns swooped but have had to wait a long time to get their expensive acquisition onto the pitch.

At one stage Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane admitted he didn’t know if the centre-back would feature for the club at all, so the sight of the Kakamas-born star in team colours was welcome for both club and country. Coetzee officially made his Sundowns debut in the 2-0 African Champions League victory over Equatorial Guinea side Leones Vegetarianos last Tuesday, and was