Sphephelo Sithole: Bafana star opens up on horror injury – ‘I thought it was the end of my career’

Bafana Bafana midfielder Sphephelo Sithole has expressed his relief at being back to action after a career-threatening injury.

Sithole suffered a horrific injury while playing for Bafana Bafana in a World Cup qualifier against South Sudan in November 2024 which kept him out of action for 10 months while he managed just 51 minutes for his club last season.

The midfielder suffered a fracture to his tibia and fibula, which required surgery, in the match in Juba and needed a lot of time and support to recover as well as rehabilitation but he is now back in the national team again ahead of the matches against Zimbabwe on Friday and Rwanda next Tuesday.

Sithole shares his struggles with long-term injury 

As he waits to see if he will make coach Hugo Broos’ team for the upcoming matches, Sithole is looking back with thanks that he is now able to play football again after he feared the worst during his nightmare spell out.

“I would like to thank God for giving me the opportunity to play football again, because that injury I got, I thought maybe it was the end of my career, but fortunately I’m here again, back with the team,” Sithole told SAFA Media.

“It’s good to be back in the team, I can see the spirit is very good and the guys were doing good while I was away, and I was always watching them playing, so I’m proud to be back here with the team again.”

How did Bafana midfielder cope with his setback?

Sithole suffered the injury while on loan at Portuguese club Gil Vicente and has since returned to his parent side Tondela, where he has managed 90 minutes in their last two games, which gives him belief that the worst is now behind him.

“It was tough mentally, because when you’re injured you can’t do much – you can’t help with anything, all you can do is to support the guys, and be with them,” added Sithole.

“The only thing you can do is communicate with them on WhatsApp messages, that’s what I did. I supported them while I was away from home – I’m just happy they did well.”

Capped 20 times for Bafana Bafana, Sithole has spent the last nine years in Portugal, having initially signed for Sporting Lisbon and has also played for Vitoria FC and Belenenses.