ENGLAND-based Bafana Bafana captain Steven "Schillo" Pienaar is back in action after being sidelined by a niggling groin injury for almost three months.
Pienaar said yesterday that he was happy to be back, adding that he no longer felt any pain when he trained.
"It is great to be back to full training. I just want to play," the talented linkman wrote on social network Twitter.
Pienaar is still being assessed by medical personnel at his English Premiership club, Tottenham Hotspur before being given a run in an official match.
The most successful graduate of Transnet Football School of Excellence got injured on the eve of Bafana's 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Niger.
He limped off the pitch with the niggling groin injury in his club's friendly match against Atletico Bilbao in England on August 7. That resulted in Pienaar withdrawing from the Bafana international friendly against Burkina Faso after discussions with team doctor Ephraim Nematswerani.
Pienaar was also sidelined for two vital Afcon qualifiers, which saw the national squad go down 2-1 to Niger in Niamey and draw 0-0 against Sierra Leone in Nelspruit.
"I've been training for one week (without feeling) the pain so slowly (I'm) getting back into the swing of things," Pienaar said after Spurs hammered Queens Park Rangers 3-1 on Sunday.
The midfield ace is highly likely to be included in the Bafana squad to play against Ivory Coast in the Mandela Challenge in Port Elizabeth on November 12. Coach Pitso Mosimane will name his team to play the Didier Droba-led Elephants on Thursday.
South African Football Association top brass have pledged to donate R1million to Mandela Children's Fund in the 17th edition of this popular tournament.
This will be Bafana's first match since their dramatic failure to qualify for the 2012 Afcon finals in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
Bafana Bafana players, including Itumeleng Khune, Andile Jali and Siphiwe Tshabalala, made a mockery of themselves after their draw against the Leone Stars, believing the stalemate was enough to take them to next year's Afcon finals.
They celebrated by dancing all over the Mbombela Stadium pitch, only to be disappointed by the news that they had in fact failed to qualify for the continental spectacle.
Pienaar may face Ivory Coast
ENGLAND-based Bafana Bafana captain Steven "Schillo" Pienaar is back in action after being sidelined by a niggling groin injury for almost three months.
Pienaar said yesterday that he was happy to be back, adding that he no longer felt any pain when he trained.
"It is great to be back to full training. I just want to play," the talented linkman wrote on social network Twitter.
Pienaar is still being assessed by medical personnel at his English Premiership club, Tottenham Hotspur before being given a run in an official match.
The most successful graduate of Transnet Football School of Excellence got injured on the eve of Bafana's 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Niger.
He limped off the pitch with the niggling groin injury in his club's friendly match against Atletico Bilbao in England on August 7. That resulted in Pienaar withdrawing from the Bafana international friendly against Burkina Faso after discussions with team doctor Ephraim Nematswerani.
Pienaar was also sidelined for two vital Afcon qualifiers, which saw the national squad go down 2-1 to Niger in Niamey and draw 0-0 against Sierra Leone in Nelspruit.
"I've been training for one week (without feeling) the pain so slowly (I'm) getting back into the swing of things," Pienaar said after Spurs hammered Queens Park Rangers 3-1 on Sunday.
The midfield ace is highly likely to be included in the Bafana squad to play against Ivory Coast in the Mandela Challenge in Port Elizabeth on November 12. Coach Pitso Mosimane will name his team to play the Didier Droba-led Elephants on Thursday.
South African Football Association top brass have pledged to donate R1million to Mandela Children's Fund in the 17th edition of this popular tournament.
This will be Bafana's first match since their dramatic failure to qualify for the 2012 Afcon finals in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
Bafana Bafana players, including Itumeleng Khune, Andile Jali and Siphiwe Tshabalala, made a mockery of themselves after their draw against the Leone Stars, believing the stalemate was enough to take them to next year's Afcon finals.
They celebrated by dancing all over the Mbombela Stadium pitch, only to be disappointed by the news that they had in fact failed to qualify for the continental spectacle.
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