Cape Town - Cape Town City have a host of experienced and talented midfielders.
Players such as Mduduzi Mdantsane and Thabo Nodada would be the first names on many a Premiership team sheet.
Mdantsane, affectionately known as “Mdu” to City fans, would be high on the list particularly after his brilliant 2021-22 campaign when he finished as the league’s leading goalscoring midfielder with nine goals.
But yet in a high-pressure game, especially with City still searching for the first victory of the season, against Kaizer Chiefs on Tuesday, coach Eric Tinkler opted for young Taahir Goedeman instead.
It was a brave call to field a 22-year-old who only recently graduated from City’s Diski Challenge team against a hardened Chiefs’ midfield of Siyethemba Sithebe, Kgaogelo Sekgota and Phathutshedzo Nange.
Tinkler, though, had seen enough of the rookie on his top-flight debut last season against champions Mamelodi Sundowns, when Goedeman produced a promising performance that almost led to the only goal of the game were it not for the brilliance of Sundowns goalkeeper Dennis Oyango.
The youngster certainly repaid Tinkler’s faith with a composed display against Chiefs, with his vision and passing range lighting up a City team that had been faltering thus far this season.
Darwin Gonzalez may have picked up the player-of-the-match award for his opening goal and relentless running all night, but it was Goedeman who put City’s wide runners into space behind Chief’s wing-backs.
Tinkler was certainly impressed with Goedeman’s performance on the night, which bodes well for City’s MTN8 quarter-final against AmaZulu at Athlone Stadium on Saturday.
“I really thought Goedeman did exceptionally well in the first half,” Tinkler told the media after the 2-0 win over Chiefs. “The youngster was a thorn constantly, his pressing was very good, and then his next pass was always positive.
“He was looking to immediately feed the ball out wide. And he showed a little bit of composure in tight areas when on the ball because they pressed in the middle, but he managed to get himself out of those situations. I thought his work-rate was absolutely brilliant, and I think for a young man he really performed.”
A couple of goal-scoring chances fell at the feet of Goedeman against Chiefs, but the youngster was unable to tuck it away as he still awaits to open his Premiership account. But with the confidence he is playing with at the moment, it certainly is a case of sooner rather than later that he will score.
IOL Sport