Polokwane City have suffered a setback in their preparations for Saturday's massively important DStv Premiership clash against Kaizer Chiefs as they will be without key player Manuel Kambala.
The defensive midfielder will not be eligible for selection when Rise and Shine travel to Johannesburg to take on Amakhosi at FNB Stadium for their penultimate fixture of the season.
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Kambala is suspended for the game due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
His absence will be of some relief for Amakhosi fans not only because of his tenacity in the middle of the park, but also because of the heartache the Mozambican inflicted on them in the recent past.
Of course, Chiefs supporters will have a fresh memory of the player now nicknamed by Chiefs' opposition supporters as 'lord Kambala'.
He scored Baroka FC's equalising goal against Chiefs in the 60th minute of the last game of the 2019/20 that essentially denied the Soweto giants a seemingly secured league title that eventually went to rivals Mamelodi Sundowns.
The Glamour Boys only needed a win, whatever the result between Sundowns and Black Leopards, and they famously bottled it thanks to Kambala's headed effort from a set-piece, whose mere mention to this day brings the Khosi Nation palpitations .
I will never forgive Manuel Kambala for what he did to Kaizer chiefs on the 5th of September 2020 after 59 minutes of the game ???? pic.twitter.com/rt9svod35a
— MZulu wa Limpopo (@KabeloMohlah02) January 25, 2024
Chiefs are also far off those heydays of challenging for the title, instead finding themselves in desperate need of three points to keep their spot in the Top Eight – so disastrous has their season been.
Cavin Johnson's troops, for their part, will have to do without three of their players serving suspensions. Like Kambala, Brandon Petersen, Edmilson Dove and Pule Mmodi will be not eligible for selection come Saturday.
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Petersen and Dove will be serving the second of their two-game suspensions after they were each shown a red card during the 2-2 draw against TS Galaxy. Mmodi, meanwhile, is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 15:00.
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