Dove soars as City stay on rise
Mozambican defender looking forward to Downs clash
EDMILSON Dove has had a sensational start to his Cape Town City career and, in just four games, he’s taken the PSL by storm.
On Friday, City are back in action when they host PSL and African champions Mamelodi Sundowns at the Athlone Stadium (8pm kickoff) – and Mozambican left-back Edmilson can’t wait to test his ability against the best club on the continent.
Signed by City on 27 January, Edmilson made his debut just two weeks later with a competent outing in a 3-0 win over Highlands Park. He followed that up with a solid performance in a 2-0 victory against neighbours Ajax Cape Town, an impressive display in a 2-2 draw with Orlando Pirates, and culminating in a man-of-the-match award in the weekend’s 3-0 success over Baroka FC in Polokwane.
While defensively reliable, and intelligent, it was the Mozambican left-footer’s attacking qualities that were particularly eye-catching against Baroka. On one such occasion, he made a darting run down the left, cut inside his marker, and whipped in the cross with his weaker right foot, where Sibusiso Masina was at hand to power in the header. In just a short space of time, Edmilson has loudly trumpeted his arrival as a footballer to watch.
City boss John Comitis explained how they brought the 22-year-old to the club and also emphasised that, even though the transfer window was still some months off, they are constantly working at identifying players to strengthen the squad.
“When Australian Matt Sim left, we had made the decision to move left-back Thato Mokeke into midfield,” said Comitis. “That meant we were in the market for a leftback as we only had Ebrahim Seedat. We always like to have a competitive scenario in which we have two good players fighting for a position.
“We looked at the proposals we got from various agents around the world. Edmilson was among them and we honed in on him. We did our homework, we watched video footage of the player in action and we also watched him play in a friendly against Bafana. We then invited him for a brief trial, we liked what we saw and we signed him.”
And the left-back has proven to be an inspired capture for the Capetonians. Friday, though, is Edmilson’s big challenge – and he is fully aware of how difficult an encounter City can expect when coming up against an in-form Sundowns side.