Midfielder Thabo Nodada's consistency at Cape Town City has finally paid off.
Nodada got Bafana Bafana mentor Stuart Baxter's nod when he was this week called up to the national team to play Seychelles in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at FNB Stadium on Saturday (3pm).
SA will then make the trip to the island in the Indian Ocean for a return leg on Tuesday, October 16. For Nodada, 23, this is one opportunity he's been waiting for.
Winning both matches will almost guarantee Bafana their place in the tournament.
Baxter has explained why it's taken some time for the Ixopo-born, KwaZulu-Natal, midfield maestro to earn his spot in the national team.
"I've seen Thabo play quite a lot in the games that I've watched so far and I've felt in the past that he was a little bit erratic in his play," Baxter said when he announced his squad this week.
In the 2015/16 season in Mpumalanga, the man nicknamed "Kante", after the Chelsea midfield workhorse, made 20 appearances but suffered an injury setback the following season and managed just 13.
Nodada was, however, in his element last season and played 32 times, earning himself Cape Town City's Player of the Season accolade in May.
Thabo Nodada rewarded
Image: Anesh Debiky/Gallo Images
Midfielder Thabo Nodada's consistency at Cape Town City has finally paid off.
Nodada got Bafana Bafana mentor Stuart Baxter's nod when he was this week called up to the national team to play Seychelles in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at FNB Stadium on Saturday (3pm).
SA will then make the trip to the island in the Indian Ocean for a return leg on Tuesday, October 16. For Nodada, 23, this is one opportunity he's been waiting for.
Winning both matches will almost guarantee Bafana their place in the tournament.
Baxter has explained why it's taken some time for the Ixopo-born, KwaZulu-Natal, midfield maestro to earn his spot in the national team.
"I've seen Thabo play quite a lot in the games that I've watched so far and I've felt in the past that he was a little bit erratic in his play," Baxter said when he announced his squad this week.
In the 2015/16 season in Mpumalanga, the man nicknamed "Kante", after the Chelsea midfield workhorse, made 20 appearances but suffered an injury setback the following season and managed just 13.
Nodada was, however, in his element last season and played 32 times, earning himself Cape Town City's Player of the Season accolade in May.
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