Stellenbosch FC’s 1-0 victory over AmaZulu on Tuesday evening came at a major cost with striker Ashley Cupido expected to be out for “a minimum of six weeks” and will therefore miss this week’s trip to Zanzibar for the all-important CAF Confederation Cup semifinal against Simba FC.
Cupido hobbled after just 10 minutes when his hamstring went “pop” and was replaced by South Africa U20 forward Langelihle Phili.
Stellies coach Steve Barker conceded that Cupido, who worked tirelessly leading the frontline in the quarterfinal against Zamalek in Cairo last week, would not be on the flight to the East Africa island.
“Yeah, it looks like it’s a bad hamstring, so unlikely that it’ll be available,” Barker said.
“We’ll assess tomorrow (Wednesday). But he says he felt it pop.
“So when that happens, it’s probably, you know, minimum six weeks out.
“Unfortunate for him, unfortunate for us, especially with Bradley Mojela still out and Ashley, it’s obviously not ideal. But, yeah, we have to find solutions.”
Cupido’s absence has left Barker with a mini-crisis upfront with Mojela, of course, still recovering after undergoing knee surgery in December, although there were positive signs of him kicking a ball in training recently.
“He’s promised me if we make the final of Confed, he’ll be available,” Barker joked.
“No, it’s just part of his rehab. So, he’s running now.
“At least he is able to sort of kick the ball. It’s just one of those injuries that it’s just something that you can’t rush.
“All intents and purposes, it was always going to be available around early May.”
Barker’s woes upfront are further compounded with Phili also expected to join up with the Amajita squad this week for the U20 Africa Cup of Nations competition in Egypt.
The 2025 U20 AFCON takes place between 26 April and 18 May 2025.
Barker will put in a request to SAFA for Phili to travel with Stellenbosch to Zanzibar before joining up with Amajita for their travels to Egypt.
He’s supposed to report for camp on Sunday, (2:49) but we’ll request that he travels with us and report for camp on Monday.
“We do travel back from Tanzania and land in Joburg on Monday morning. So especially with Ashley most likely not being available, we would request that he at least comes for that match.”
Barker was, however, pleased to announce that inspirational captain and goalkeeper Sage Stephens would be available for the CAF semifinal.
Stephens was rested for Tuesday’s night Premiership clash due to a minor injury with Oscarine Masuluke taking over between the poles for Stellies.
There was also doubt around the skipper’s availability for the first-leg semifinal after he picked up a yellow card in Cairo for “time wasting” and having earlier also been booked in the competition, it was assumed that Stephens would be suspended.
CAF’s ruling, though, is that all yellow cards are revoked after the group stages allowing a fit-again Stephens to lead Stellies into battle.
“Yes, I saw Sage now after the game, just had a bit of a follow-up,” Barker said. “So the reason he didn’t play was to just let him fully recover.
“He seems to be good, so he will travel. So I’m confident that by the weekend, you know, he’ll be available.
“He seems to have recovered from it. So yes, he’s obviously been really big for us this whole season and it’s important for him to be available.”
Stellenbosch will travel to East Africa on Thursday, where they could possibly be forced to take a ferry across from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar due to the lack of flight options at the moment.
The semifinal has been moved from Simba FC’s fortress Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam fortress, which is temporarily closed for maintenance work, to the 15,000-seater Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar.
Barker feels this could work in his team’s favour.
“Obviously, a 60 000 packed seater is maybe a little bit more intimidating than, say, a 15,000-pack stadium,” he said.
“I’ve been told and seen sort of on pictures that the pitch will be in really good condition. But yes, it does mean there is extra travel.”
