Rivaldo Coetzee

Rivaldo Roberto Genino Coetzee (born 16 October 1996) is a South African professional footballer who plays as a defender for Mamelodi Sundowns and the South Africa national team.

Rivaldo Coetzee
Coetzee with Bafana Bafana in 2016.
Personal information
Full name Rivaldo Roberto Genino Coetzee[1]
Date of birth (1996-10-16) 16 October 1996
Place of birth Kakamas, South Africa
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Mamelodi Sundowns
Number 40
Youth career
Kakamas Sundowns[1]
Ajax Cape Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 Ajax Cape Town 82 (1)
2017– Mamelodi Sundowns 18 (0)
National team‡
2014–2017 South Africa 24 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:50, 3 May 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 July 2017

A graduate of the Ajax Cape Town academy, Coetzee made his professional debut in 2014 at the age of 17 and made just under 100 appearances for the club. In 2017, he won the club's Player of the Season award before signing for Mamelodi Sundowns later in the year. He is also a full international and, upon making his international debut in 2014, became the youngest player ever to represent South Africa at the age of 17 years and 361 days, though this record has since been broken by Fagrie Lakay.

Club career

Ajax Cape Town

Coetzee is a product of Ajax Cape Town's youth academy, having joined the club at the age of 15.[2] He made his first team debut at the age of 17 in February 2014 and won the club's Player of the Season and Player's Player of the Season awards at the end of the 2016–17 PSL season.[3] He scored his first goal for the club on 19 August 2017, netting in a 1–1 draw with Golden Arrows, before having to be withdrawn through injury.[4]

Two days later, Ajax announced that they had agreed to sell Coetzee to Scottish Premiership club Celtic. The proposed transfer later collapsed, however, as the player failed his medical after it was discovered that he had an underlying issue in his right foot.[5]

Mamelodi Sundowns

Despite having failed a medical with Celtic days before, Coetzee signed for Ajax's PSL rivals Mamelodi Sundowns on the transfer deadline day for a reported fee of R10m plus Mario Booysen.[6] He underwent corrective surgery on his foot soon after his arrival which resulted in him missing the entire 2017–18 South African Premier Division campaign. In August 2018, Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane revealed that Coetzee's ailment was more serious than first feared and that "he can still stay two years without playing to get better".[7]

International career
Coetzee competing for the ball at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Coetzee made his international debut for South Africa in an African Nations Cup qualifier against Congo on 12 October 2014 making him the youngest player ever to represent the country, aged 17 years and 361 days – a record that was later broken by Supersport United forward Fagrie Lakay.[8]

He was selected in South Africa's squad for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea. In the nation's opening game, a 1–3 defeat to Algeria, he had to be replaced by Siyabonga Nhlapo after 29 minutes due to injury.[9]

Career statistics

Club

(Correct as of 19 August 2017)[10]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup1 League Cup2 Continental Other3 Total
LeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Ajax Cape Town 2013–14 PSL 600000——60
2014–15 2405020——310
2015–16 2701000—40320
2016–17 2400010——250
2017–18 110000——11
Total 82160300040951

1 Includes Nedbank Cup matches.
2 Includes Telkom Knockout matches.
3 Includes MTN 8 matches.

    Honours

    Club
    Ajax Cape Town[11]

    References
    1. http://www.safa.net/UserFiles/www.safa.net/U-20-ply-prfls.pdf
    2. Lewis, Carl (23 August 2017). "Rivaldo Coetzee's Transfer Fee one of the biggest for Ajax". Eye Witness News. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
    3. Said, Nick (26 July 2017). "Rivaldo Coetzee apologises, returns to Ajax training". ESPN. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
    4. Said, Nick (19 August 2017). "Rivaldo Coetzee scores his first professional goal as Ajax held by Arrows". Times Live. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
    5. "Celtic: Rivaldo Coetzee's transfer is off after failed medical". BBC Sport. BBC. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
    6. "Revealed: Ajax's Multimillion-Rand Coetzee Payday". Soccer Laduma. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
    7. "Pitso doubts if Rivaldo Coetzee will recover from injury". News 24. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
    8. "Erick Mathoho was delighted with his performance alongside Rivaldo Coetzee". www.soccerladuma.co.za.
    9. "Algeria 3–1 South Africa". BBC Sport. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
    10. "South Africa – R. Coetzee – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
    11. "Rivaldo Coetzee – Career Honours". Soccerway.
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