Tough tackling midfielder Andile Jali has had hamstring problems that have limited his game time over the past two seasons, but the Mamelodi Sundowns enforcer looks as fit as a fiddle and will get sharper in this campaign for the runaway defending champions.
The diminutive but combative Matatiele-born Jali, who turns 32 in April, has been in the form of his life in the middle of the park for Sundowns.
He has played a starring role as the champions brushed aside Premiership title rivals SuperSport United and Orlando Pirates, Baroka and Royal AM with the only blip being a first loss of the season away against AmaZulu during a run of good form last month.
It came as no surprise when Jali was named the DStv Premiership player of the month of December, beating in-form strikers Kwame Peprah, Victor Letsoalo and Bienvenu Eva Nga and teammate Peter Shalulile to the monthly award.
Jali credits Sundowns’ medical team for work on his hamstring problem
Image: Mamelodi Sundowns
Tough tackling midfielder Andile Jali has had hamstring problems that have limited his game time over the past two seasons, but the Mamelodi Sundowns enforcer looks as fit as a fiddle and will get sharper in this campaign for the runaway defending champions.
The diminutive but combative Matatiele-born Jali, who turns 32 in April, has been in the form of his life in the middle of the park for Sundowns.
He has played a starring role as the champions brushed aside Premiership title rivals SuperSport United and Orlando Pirates, Baroka and Royal AM with the only blip being a first loss of the season away against AmaZulu during a run of good form last month.
It came as no surprise when Jali was named the DStv Premiership player of the month of December, beating in-form strikers Kwame Peprah, Victor Letsoalo and Bienvenu Eva Nga and teammate Peter Shalulile to the monthly award.
“I’m grateful for the award and I would like to say thanks to all my teammates because this is not for me as an individual,” Jali said in Xhosa.
“It shows the whole team is doing something good. If they say Andile is player of the month for December it means as a team we worked very hard during that month.
“We had very tough games which came back to back but we managed to come through it because we know what we want to achieve as a team.”
Having been limited to 36 and 30 games in all competitions largely due to hamstring problems in the past two seasons respectively, Jali has racked up 22 appearances just past the halfway stage of the campaign.
He credited the Sundowns’ medical team for their handling of his hamstring problems.
“Credit must go to our medical team. They have worked very hard on my hamstring problems.
“They are the people who were encouraging me every day and advising me what to do and the exercises I needed to do.
“They have played a big role for me to be in the situation I am in at the moment fitness wise.
“I am thankful to the people who saw my work and voted for me during the month of December. It shows there was something extra I was doing. I want to thank my teammates and supporters and the people who voted.”
Jali will hope his clean bill of health continues when Sundowns resume their assault on a record-breaking fifth successive Premiership when they host Chippa United at Loftus on February 16.
Sundowns are running away with the 2021/22 Premiership with a 14-point lead going into the Christmas and Africa Cup of Nations break.
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