When a scuffle broke out between Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Renaldo Leaner and defender Reeve Frosler during their 1-0 CAF Confederation Cup defeat in Ndola a week ago, it was hard not to view it as a symptom of deeper dressing-room malaise.
However, head coach Fernando Da Cruz brushed the clash aside as nothing more than a heat-of-the-moment reaction.
Captain Inacio Miguel even welcomed the tension between Frosler — one of the longest-serving players in the current Naturena squad — and Leaner, a new recruit in his debut season at Chiefs.
Coming on the back of a fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions for Chiefs, rising tempers were certainly understandable.
Yet, despite the coach downplaying the altercations, suspicions of underlying instability within the Amakhosi camp resurfaced when Leaner was omitted entirely from the matchday squad for Friday night’s return leg at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
In Durban, Leaner was replaced between the sticks by Bruce Bvuma, with Brandon Petersen taking his place on the bench.
Bvuma delivered a solid performance, keeping a clean sheet to help Amakhosi level the tie with a 1-0 win, thanks to a crucial goal from Bafana Bafana left-back Bradley Cross.
With the aggregate score locked at 1-1, the tie headed to a penalty shootout, putting all the pressure back on Bvuma in the Chiefs goal.
After Lebogang Maboe missed the opening spot-kick, Bvuma came to the rescue by saving the opponent’s first attempt, but it would be Frosler who missed his kick leaving Chiefs staring down the barrel of continental defeat.
Chiefs eventually lost 3-1 in penalties as they exit the Caf Confederation Cup in preliminary rounds.