Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter has revealed that striker Lebo Mothiba had a hip problem which he came to him with the night before the senior national team played Nigeria.
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Mothiba, who finished the Africa Cup of Nations without a goal, was taken off late in the game as Bafana lost 2-1 to the Super Eagles in their quarterfinal match at Cairo International Stadium on Wednesday night.
According to Baxter, Mothiba came to him on Tuesday night with concerns over his hip flexor problem. The France based striker was tested and was cleared to start against the West Africans.
"It's important that the players feel the trust of the coach in every situation and I think Lebo came to me last night [Tuesday] with the doctor and said that he had a hip flexor problem from his club Strasbourg that was giving him some problems. We tested him and he could play," Baxter said.
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"That's why I took him off, because his hip flexor was sore. I don't think he played badly. He is a young player playing against very experienced players and playing in a very difficult game. That he does not play a man of the match performance every week is not a surprise, but I thought he played okay and did his job. In the first half we did not get service to him, but we took him off because he had a bit of an injury."