Zwane’s Goalkeeper Nightmare: Johnson’s World Cup Dream Over As Usuthu Depth Hits Breaking Point

AmaZulu head coach Arthur Zwane has confirmed that goalkeeper Darren Johnson will be sidelined for approximately six months, officially ruling him out for the remainder of the campaign.

Johnson is set to miss the final five matches of the campaign—a significant blow for Usuthu and for the player himself, who had been pushing for inclusion in the Bafana Bafana World Cup squad.

The former Cape Town Spurs goalkeeper, who joined Usuthu from Chippa United at the start of the season, sustained the injury during a defeat to Casric Stars in the Nedbank Cup quarter-finals at Moses Mabhida Stadium last month.

He collided with Mfundo Thikazi shortly after the latter had scored, in what proved to be an unfortunate incident.

Since then, the 29-year-old has missed five matches, during which Usuthu have recorded two wins, one loss, and two draws.

“Darren, unfortunately, is going to be out for some time,” Zwane said during a media day on Wednesday.

“He is likely to be out for up to six months.”

With Johnson—who has made 20 appearances across all competitions and kept six clean sheets—now unavailable, Usuthu will rely on Olwethu Mzimela and Richard Ofori for the remaining fixtures.

Both goalkeepers have featured since Johnson sustained his knee injury, with Mzimela in goal during the recent defeat to Orlando Pirates.

“I think we are probably the only team that has used all their goalkeepers this season, and that tells you how thin we are in that department,” Zwane added.

“If anything happens to Olwethu, we’ll be left with Ofori and no experienced backup. We would then have to rely on the DDC goalkeepers.

“The question is whether they are ready to perform at this level if called upon.

“It speaks to the need for planning when we go into the market. These are unforeseen circumstances, but you can’t dwell on them—you have to move forward and find solutions rather than focusing on what could have been done differently.

“Let’s focus on solutions and move ahead. That’s what football is about.”