Amakhosi defender Cyril Nzama had to sit out his team’s victory over Golden Arrows in Durban on Sunday, as he was recovering from a hamstring injury, and instead watched his teammates gain their first victory of the new season from the comfort of his living room on television.

It also meant that Cyril missed out on the opportunity to have played his 200th game for The Amakhosi. On Monday morning and having substantially recovered from his hamstring worries Cyril turned up at a Johannesburg hotel and reported for national team duty.

Cyril along with four other Chiefs players are in Pitso Mosimane’s squad to take on Zambia in Lusaka this coming weekend in an MTN/ CAF Africa Cup of nations qualifying game.

The Chiefs captain has made good progress in recovering from the hamstring injury, which kept him out of the Arrows encounter. Speaking on his recovery, Nzama said. “I feel 80% fit at the moment and I do believe that by the middle of the week I should be at full strength and ready to take on Zambia”.

National team coach Pitso Mosimane did consult with Amakhosi coach Ernst Middendorp about Nzama’s injury, “I spoke to Pitso on Sunday and we came to a consensus that it should be okay for Cyril to travel with the national team. We also consulted with the player who said he is fine and is not feeling the same kind of discomfort he did a week ago,” said the Chiefs coach of his discussions with Pitso.

Sunday’s game is also likely to throw Cyril up against former Kaizer Chiefs team and prolific goal scorer Collins Mbesuma, who when speaking to the media on Monday vowed to crush Bafana Bafana in Sunday’s game.

“It is easy for Collins to say that he will crush us, the real thing is if he can do it when it comes game time on Sunday. Overall this Zambian team is a strong team and we aware that with home ground advantage they will be a formidable opponent” said Cyril.

The Chiefs captain though is looking ahead to the challenge with his former team mate with relish, “the boot is on the other foot so to speak, now I will have the opportunity to find out how defenders felt when they came up against him a couple of seasons ago.

Collins is the kind of player who fights with defenders and he uses his body weight to great effect, I know he will be a handful on Sunday I do think that we can handle him” added Cyril.

Nzama will be joined in the Bafana Bafana squad by Siyabonga Nkosi who opened the scoring for The Amakhosi in their 2-1 defeat of Golden Arrows on Sunday, goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez.Midfielder-cum-striker Gert Schalkwyk will is also part of the squad. Defender Siphiwe Mkhonza who sat out the Arrows game with a suspension completes Chiefs representation in the Bafana Bafana set up for the Zambia game.