Bafana Bafana midfielder Luke le Roux continued his return to action when he captained Dutch top-tier side Volendam to a 1-1 friendly draw against Albanian side Partizani.
The 23-year-old missed out on what would likely have been a sure place at the 2023 African Cup of Nations following an extended spell on the sidelines with a freak back injury, which he now appears to have recovered from.
After playing 25 minutes on debut for Volendam in their surprise 2-1 victory at Heerenveen before the winter break in the Netherlands, he stepped up his return with another 45 minutes against the Albanians.
A bizarre back injury in August, which may have been as a result of doing dead lifting during his medical check ahead of his transfer, had kept Le Roux from making his debut after two seasons playing for Varberg in Sweden.
During that time he has established himself as a regular with Bafana and a favourite of coach Hugo Broos, but instead Thabang Monare from Orlando Pirates has been selected in his place. It is another big miss for Bafana in the Ivory Coast.
Le Roux will have plenty of work to do in the second half of the season with Volendam as they sit bottom of the Eredivisie, three points from absolute safety.
He has a new coach in Regillio Simons, who was recently appointed following the mass exodus of several key people at the club.
Chairman Jan Smit was dismissed and also accused of financial fraud. Volendam have a board of directors but also a supervisory board with oversight powers and the dismissal was as a result of the battle between the two boards.
As a result of Smit’s dismissal, the technical manager Wim Jonk, head of training Ruben Jongkind, technical director Jasper van Leeuwen and coach Matthias Kohler all quit in solidarity.
Simons is a former striker with a modest career in the Netherlands. He has also not coached at any great level, having been part of the Ajax Amsterdam youth set-up between 2013-17, and at Volendam since taking over their Under-23 side last year.
He is, however, the father of Dutch international Xavi Simons, who is currently on loan at RB Leipzig from Paris St Germain, and who was developed through the famed La Masia academy at Barcelona.
Volendam resume their league campaign with a home clash against Almere City on January 14.
