Cup ‘merrymaking’ takes its toll: Andre Sousa awaits knee check-up, good news for Maribor as Josip Ilicic returns
Photo: Žan Pak
It was nice, it was interesting, but it took its toll. Maribor played an away match in Marjeta na Dravskem polju midweek, where they faced a fourth-division team in a cup match in front of 2000 spectators. The 4:0 victory was a logical outcome of the quality difference between the clubs, but the purple team’s coach Ante Šimundža was considerably less satisfied with the fact that the cup “celebration” took its toll.
Andre Sousa, a Portuguese player who joined Ljudski vrt at the end of this summer’s transfer window, has injured his knee. It is still unclear how serious the injury is, with more details expected from an MRI scan.
“He is waiting for an examination; we’ll see what the information about his condition will be,” said Ante Šimundža on the club’s website, revealing an additional issue that arose after returning from Marjeta na Dravskem polju: “We are also without Marko Božić, who will be out for at least 10 to 14 days due to a shoulder injury he sustained from a clumsy fall during training.”
On the other hand, there’s good news that Slovenian national team player Josip Iličić is returning. He suffered a back injury in a recent Styrian derby against Celje, and team captain Martin Milec, Hillal Soudani, and Benjamin Tetteh are also getting closer to a comeback.
“Iličić is back. He took a hit during the match in Celje and felt significant pain in his back in the meantime. Since Monday, he has been training with the fitness coach, completing an additional program, and he has already returned to training with the team since Thursday,” explained Ante Šimundža. Regarding the mentioned trio, he added: “Milec will join us first. I won’t say he had the easiest injury, but it was the quickest to resolve, and he is already back in full training. He is also receiving additional loads from the fitness coach. Soudani and Tetteh are slowly getting back, but they are not quite ready to participate fully in training yet.”
This text was automatically translated using AI.
Author: editorial Football Planet
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