On Monday, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos announced his final 23-man squad for this month's international friendlies against Guinea and France, with Mamelodi Sundowns star Rivaldo Coetzee among the notable absentees.
The 25-year-old, who once held the record of being South Africa's youngest international of all time, is yet to feature under Broos' reign but had been named in the provisional squad ahead of the upcoming matches in Europe.
It has since been revealed that the defender-cum-midfielder has, in fact, been ruled out with an undisclosed injury, while his previous exclusions from the national team set-up have also now been explained.
"In the beginning, when I got here, he was playing in defence and I didn't like him as a defender," Broos said during his squad announcement on SABC Sport.
"I think he's too much of a 'football player'. In defence, he is not like [Rushine] De Reuck, for example, or like Siyanda Xulu.
"Then suddenly, he didn't play anymore for Sundowns, and then he came back as a midfielder and he's playing very well.
"Those games in the Champions League, there you see how good a player is because it's a very high level, and he did very well. That's why I brought him back into the team and now, unfortunately, he is injured."
