Sundowns coach Mokwena gives update on De Reuck's head injury

Rushine de Reuck surrounded by Mamelodi Sundowns teammates during the DStv Premiership match against TS Galaxy FC on January 24 2022 at Mbombela Stadium.
Rushine de Reuck surrounded by Mamelodi Sundowns teammates during the DStv Premiership match against TS Galaxy FC on January 24 2022 at Mbombela Stadium.
Image: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena has provided an update on Rushine de Reuck after the defender suffered a seemingly serious head injury in the Brazilians' 2-1 DStv Premiership win over TS Galaxy at Mbombela Stadium on Tuesday.

De Reuck’s game ended in the 11th minute when he scored with a header and was immediately prone on the ground, unable to celebrate his goal. He appeared to have suffered a concussion.

The medical teams of Sundowns and Galaxy rushed onto the field to attend to the motionless Bafana Bafana centreback, who was stretchered off.

Speaking after the game, Mokwena was happy to reveal that De Reuck did not need to be hospitalised because he regained consciousness at the stadium.

“Rushine is on his feet and it is very good that he has regained consciousness,” Mokwena said.

“The medical teams from Mamelodi Sundowns and TS Galaxy need a lot of praise for their prompt response.

“He scored a very important goal for us, which opened up the game a bit. We are just grateful he is able to recognise his surroundings now and we are very proud of his contribution.”

It’s not clear if De Reuck will be available for Sundowns' game against Sekhukhune United at Pretoria's Loftus Stadium on Saturday (3.30pm).

Mokwena was also happy with Sundowns' positive result, despite fielding a vastly different team. There were eight changes to the starting line-up from their 1-0 league win against Kaizer Chiefs at Soweto's FNB Stadium on Saturday.

Masandawana have extended their league record of successive wins from 11 to 13. Sphelele Mkhulise was named man of the match against Galaxy.

“It’s a huge compliment to the group. We are a good team with very good players, and we have very good human beings in the change room,” Mokwena said. “It becomes a bit easier when you have good human beings and good football players.

“We have to continue now to try to be better because we have another game on Saturday. Today [Tuesday] was a very good performance from the team. We created so many chances. We should have scored more goals, but congratulations to the players.

“There were a lot of good performers and it was a very good team performance. Of course, if you have a very good team performance, it means you will have some very good standout performers, and that’s what we had on the pitch.”


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