Pirates star allays injury fears while on Bafana duty

Orlando Pirates forward Zakhele Lepasa has allayed injury fears after being forced off during Bafana Bafana's 4-0 win over Sierra Leone on the weekend.

Lepasa enjoyed a stellar return to the international stage on Saturday afternoon when he recorded two assists during South Africa's comprehensive 4-0 friendly win over Sierra Leone.

The Orlando Pirates forward set Themba Zwane up for Bafana Bafana's opener before assisting Mihlali Mayambela to score on debut shortly after the half-time break.

You can watch highlights of Lepasa's second assist in the video below, courtesy of SABC Sport

However, the 25-year-old's outing was cut short near the death when he was forced off through injury, with concern immediately being raised about his involvement in Tuesday's encounter against Botswana.

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Buccaneers fans will have also held their collective breath ahead of this weekend's MTN8 semi-final against Mamelodi Sundowns but Lepasa has moved to allay any fears of his availability.

"Great performance today from the whole team! Oh [and] I'm not injured, wasn't anything bad after all. Thank God!" he shared on his official Twitter account after the match.

READ | How Tau injury opened Bafana door for Lepasa

The diminutive forward, who had previously made two appearances for South Africa back in 2019, also described his return to the national team as the "best moment" of his career.

"The best moment of my career. This is the moment we all prayed for. My mother made me and my sister fall in love with this beautiful game. And today was the proudest moment of our football journey. We believed, mom, you prayed, you believed! God, thank you!"

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