Edson Castillo is faced with the challenge of avoiding the repeat of what left him suffering in the second half of last season post his international duties with Venezuela.
Castillo has been back on national team duty in South America seven months since his last call-up.
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The 30-year-old was the top performer in his first three months at Kaizer Chiefs before his fortunes evaporated under Cavin Johnson, who pointed out that the issues always arose after Castillo returns from international duty.
Having now gone away for his first call-up since Nasreddine Nabi took over there, will be reason to worry.
Castillo was introduced as a late substitute on Thursday as Venezuela played out a 1-1 draw with world champions Argentina, who featured Lionel Messi.
Next up for La Vinotinto is a trip to Estadio Defensores del Charo in Asuncion, Paraguay, where Castillo will be in the squad playing on Wednesday (01:00).
Once done with his latest duties out in South America, he must deal with the long trip back to Johannesburg.
It will start at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport (ASU), taking him to Aeroporto Internacional de Sao Paulo-Guarulhos (GRU) in Brazil, from where he will either connect directly to OR Tambo or via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, depending on the airline's itinerary.
The average travel time from Asuncion to Johannesburg is 48 hours, which means arrival is Friday at best or Saturday at worst.
Chiefs have a trip to Polokwane, where they play SuperSport United at Peter Mokaba Stadium in the Carling Knockout first round on Saturday (20:00).
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This leaves Castillo with little to no chance of getting even one training session under his belt before the cup match.
The Venezuelan has played in all three games under Nabi to date, including putting in a full shift against Mamelodi Sundowns when Amakhosi were last involved in official competition.