Working with Benni reason he’s staying put at City
In the wake of extending his Cape Town City stay until 2022, midfielder Thabo Nodada has indicated that he’s holding out for an overseas move, citing working with coach Benni McCarthy as one of the reasons he opted to prolong his stay at the club.
Nodada implied that playing under McCarthy, a Uefa Champions League winner with FC Porto in 2004, is one of the reasons he was excited to extend his City stay as he holds out for European suitors.
“I would like to stay here until I go to Europe. Playing under coach Benni, who had a wonderful career in Europe, makes me believe that I will also make it there one day. I am learning a lot from him,” Nodada told Sowetan yesterday.
“One of the things that inspire me about working with coach Benni is that he won the Uefa Champions League. By offering me a new improved contract, the club showed that they believe in me. I am very determined to repay their faith by delivering on the field,” added the 22-year-old central midfielder. Despite losing experienced players like Aubrey Ngoma and Lehlohonolo Majoro to Mamelodi Sundowns and Wits respectively, Nodada remains upbeat they can reach greater heights this season. “The team is still strong. I believe that we can still achieve great things this season. We have players who can fill in. In football you must accept that players come and go, so we must soldier on,” noted the Ixopo-born, KwaZulu-Natal, player. Heading into the Cape derby against Ajax Cape Town on Saturday (3.30pm), ironically, Nodada will be out to impress both his coach and Ajax’s Muhsin Ertugral, the man who gave him his professional debut at Black Aces in 2015.
“It will be a special game for me. I want Ertugral to be proud of how I have grown but I will not try extraordinary things. I will play my normal game,” said the diminutive midfielder.