South Africans Abroad: Siyabonga Ngezana out for six weeks

Bafana Bafana defender Siyabonga Ngezana has been ruled out for the next six weeks with injury.

Ngezana underwent surgery on his knee after he suffered the injury ahead of FCSB’s Liga 1 clash against Botoșani last week.

This was during a warm-up session, and as a result, Ngezana was removed from the FCSB starting line-up for the match.

Ngezana’s latest injury is a setback to his rising football career – both at club and national team levels.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup on the horizon, the lanky centre-back will be racing against time to get fit again.

Ngezana is likely to miss Bafana Bafana’s friendly against Panama in March as he would still have not fully recovered.

FCSB head coach Mihai Stoica said there had been concerns over Ngezana as he was playing while carrying the injury.

However, he is relieved that the problem has been identified, and that Ngezana would play freely when he recovers.

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SOUTH AFRICANS ABROAD: NGEZANA GOES UNDER THE KNIVES

“I think he will be out for about 6 weeks. He has a meniscus injury,” Stoica told the local media.

“We don’t understand why such a valuable player would have such a steep decline, but he was injured and playing with problems.

“At least now the mystery has been solved.”

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HUGO BROOS COULD BE FORCED TO LOOK ELSEWHERE

With Bafana Bafana scheduled to face Panama, coach Hugo Broos could be forced to look elsewhere for a centre-back.

Of course, there is Nkosinathi Sibisi to take over from Ngezana but a new centre-back could be introduced to the Bafana Bafana setup.

This will give Broos enough options ahead of the FIFA World Cup should Ngezana not recover on time.