Chicago Fire FC centre-back Mbekezeli Mbokazi has been ruled out of MLS All-Star Game in Charlotte, NC, on July 29 due to a thigh injury, denying him a chance to make history for South Africa.
Off the back of a stellar FIFA World Cup campaign in Bafana Bafana's run to the round of 32, Mbokazi was set to become South Africa's first ever MLS All-Star starter.
Mbokazi is widely reported as likely to miss the next two months.
"It's not good," Chicago Fire head coach Gregg Berhalter told a press conference after his side lost 3-1 away at New York City on Saturday with Mbokazi out of the team.
"He's going to be out a while. He took a shot in training, hit the ground a little bit, scuffed the ground, and ended up tearing his thigh.
"And it's serious. He won't be back for a good amount of time. It is a miss. We feel like we have good centre-backs there anyway, but because he's a top centre-back, we're going to be missing him for a while. So we've got to get used to the new normal."
Doctor Khumalo remains the first and only South African to play in the MLS All-Star Game after appearing 30 years ago for the inaugural event.
However, attacking midfielder Khumalo - then of Columbus Crew - came off the bench for MLS East against MLS West in a 3-2 win. Mbokazi, by contrast, was set to start for the league's All-Star team against Mexico's Liga MX All-Stars.
Inter Miami duo Lionel Messi and Rodrigo de Paul are also out of the game due to a rest exemption after a gruelling FIFA World Cup campaign for Argentina.
Belgian striker Hugo Cuypers will miss the fixture after his move from Chicago Fire to Liga MX side Monterrey.
In their place, Philip Zinckernagel (Chicago Fire), Yannick Bright (Inter Miami), Andrés Cubas (Vancouver Whitecaps), and Guilherme (Houston Dynamo) have been added to the MLS All-Star Game roster.