Mduduzi Shabalala reveals injury that ended South Africa World Cup hopes

Kaizer Chiefs forward Mduduzi Shabalala says a freak injury brought his breakthrough campaign to an early conclusion and effectively ended his hopes of being selected for South Africa’s FIFA World Cup squad.

The 22-year-old was injured towards the end of last season, just as he was attempting to establish himself as an important player for both Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana.

Shabalala has now described how the incident happened, saying he was enjoying the match and playing without pressure when the injury occurred. He admitted that recalling the moment remains difficult.

“For me even now it’s difficult to talk about that because I was on the game and I was feeling the game, I was enjoying the moment because we were not playing with pressure, we were just expressing ourselves,” he told Kaizer Chiefs’ official media team.

The injury followed a pass from team-mate Pule Mmodi. Shabalala said he tried to adjust his body after receiving the ball but felt something in his leg before falling.

“So I think me going into that incident, I think I received the ball from Pule [Mmodi] and after receiving the ball, I opened my body. I had something on my leg, so it took it on my right foot.”

As he went down, Shabalala tried to avoid landing directly on his shoulder. Instead, he attempted to turn and land on his back, but said the movement left him vulnerable.

“Then I fell, I think also I didn’t want to fell straight because I didn’t want to land on my shoulder. So I wanted to land on my back. Kanti [But], that’s where the problem started.”

The Kaizer Chiefs player explained that his hand was trapped behind him when he tried to change direction during the fall. He then landed on his elbow, causing the injury to his bicep.

“So the time I wanted to turn, however, my hand was already left here. So I bumped onto my elbow, and that’s when my bicep broke.”

The setback ended Shabalala’s season and significantly damaged his chances of making South Africa’s FIFA World Cup squad. It also interrupted his progress at a time when he was pushing for a more prominent role at club and international level.

Despite the disappointment, Shabalala said he has chosen to regard the injury as part of his development rather than allowing it to weaken his ambitions. He believes the timing of his opportunity is ultimately beyond his control.

“And to me it was to say, maybe it’s not my turn. I should wait for my turn, and maybe God does things in his own way, and he knows what he Why, is he putting me in this situation?”

Shabalala remains confident that another chance with Bafana Bafana will come. He is determined to recover fully, return to action and resume his pursuit of an international place.

“And I believe that my turn will come again and I’ll come back soon and I’ll come back strong,” he said.

The player now has the opportunity to rebuild his momentum under new Kaizer Chiefs coach Fernando D Cruz, with his focus on returning stronger after an injury that disrupted what had been an important period in his career.