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Injured Serero could miss Bafana Bafana friendlies

BLOW: Thulani Serero of Ajax Amsterdam lasted only 19 minutes of Sunday's draw with Den Haag. Photo: Getty Images
BLOW: Thulani Serero of Ajax Amsterdam lasted only 19 minutes of Sunday's draw with Den Haag. Photo: Getty Images

THULANI Serero faces an anxious wait to discover the extent of the groin injury that forced him out of Ajax Amsterdam's 1-1 draw with Den Haag on Sunday.

Restored to the starting line-up for the game, the Bafana Bafana playmaker fell to the ground on 19 minutes and had to be substituted. He will find out in the coming days the length of time that he will be missing, but his participation in Bafana's October internationals now looks in serious doubt.

Kamohelo Mokotjo had to again be satisfied with a place on the bench and did not get onto the field as Feyenoord lost 3-0 at PSV Eindhoven.

South African-born Ricardo Nunes was on the scoresheet for Slovakian side Zilina as they won 3-0 at home to Tatran Presov.

The left-back, who can also operate as a winger, is a player who has been spoken about by national team coach Gordon Igesund, and would likely provide competition for Siphiwe Tshabalala in the Bafana set-up.

Siyanda Xulu was again left out of the FC Rostov match day squad as they lost 3-1 at Spartak Moscow, the club giving him time to acclimatise to life in Russia.

Andrew Surman came off late for Norwich City as they lost 1-0 at Newcastle United in the English Premier League on Sunday, while a day earlier Steven Pienaar continued his excellent start to the season for Everton.

"Schillo" was again the star in a 3-0 win at Swansea City, laying on the second goal for Kevin Mirallas in a fantastic display of attacking football that saw The Toffees have 31 shots at goal in the game, 19 on target.

Such has been Pienaar's impact this season that Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew commented last week that the South African's combination with Leighton Baines gave Everton "the best left side in Europe". High praise indeed.

Kagisho Dikgacoi made a quick recovery from his clash of heads in midweek that left him in hospital as he played his part in a remarkable win for Crystal Palace in the English Championship.

The Eagles trailed Cardiff City 2-0 in the first half, but stormed back to win the game 3-2 thanks to a hat-trick from striker Glenn Murray.

It was not such a good day for youngster Kgosi Ntlhe, who played for Peterborough as they lost their seventh straight league match, going down 2-0 to Wolves.

Dean Furman was also on the losing side in the English League One as Oldham Athletic lost 1-0 at Brentford.

In Greece, Bongani Khumalo helped PAOK keep a clean sheet as they won 3-0 at Xanthi to move into third on the table, while there was a shock return to the starting line-up for Bafana striker Dino Ndlovu in Israel.

The forward injured a shoulder on national team duty in Brazil and just last week told Avusa Sports that he would be out for another 14 days or so.

But he was thrust into the starting line-up by a desperate Maccabi Haifa, who lost 1-0 at home to Ashdod and are still without a win after four games of the campaign.

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