Kaizer Chiefs striker Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana has been dropped from Burundi’s squad for Wednesday’s friendly against Ivory Coast.
Bimenyimana’s exclusion comes as no surprise considering that he has been out of action with Amakhosi for over three weeks due to an injury.
Burundi coach Jimmy Ndayizeye named the final squad on Monday ahead of the match scheduled for Wednesday in Bujumbura.
The 22-member final squad includes well-known players such as ex-Stoke City star Sadio Berahino and former Newcastle United midfielder Gael Bigirimana.
HITTING GROUND RUNNING WITH CHIEFS
Bimenyimana had, before the groin injury, hit the ground running at Chiefs after scoring six league goals.
The 24-year-old Burundian is the DStv Premiership leading scorer alongside Mamelodi Sundowns’ Peter Shalulile and Bradley Grobler of SuperSport United.
The former Rayon Sports forward also became the first player to score a hat-trick of penalties in the PSL era.
Bimenyimana also became the first player to bag a hattrick this season.
However, his progress was slowed down by the groin injury he suffered a few weeks ago.
Bimenyimana last featured for Chiefs three weeks ago in their game against AmaZulu in the MTN8 semifinal second leg.
The second leg ended goalless and Usuthu proceeded to the final courtesy of the away goal they scored in the first leg, which ended one-all.
AmaZulu ended up meeting Orlando Pirates in the final and lost 1-0.
AMAKHOSI U-TURN TO SIGN BIMENYIMANA
The Soweto giants signed the Burundian in mid-August, weeks after he had returned home following what appeared to be disinterest from coach Arthur Zwane.
However, the Chiefs coach made a U-turn after the 4-0 and 1-0 losses to Mamelodi Sundowns and Royal AM.
Bimenyimana made a name in Rwanda, where led Rayon Sport to their eighth Premier League championship in 2017.
The centre-forward also steered the club past the Confederation Cup group stages for the first time in the year 2018.
The Burundian joined left Rayon to sign for Latvian outfit FS Rigas in January 2019
The Burundian eventually moved on to sign for an unspecified Ukrainian club earlier this year.
However, he was not able to play for them following the war that broke out between Ukraine and Russia, bringing football to a halt.
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