Johannesburg - Keagan Dolly has been in so many flights this year that he has probably lost count of how many they are in total. He has been to Algeria, Burkina Faso, Brazil - twice, Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
But the altitude he reached when he flew to those countries will be dwarfed by the high he'll reach should he end this month as an African champion with Mamelodi Sundowns after flying to Alexandria next week.
The 23-year-old spent Monday resting after the long trip from Ouagadougou where he was part of the Bafana Bafana side that drew 1-1 with Burkina Faso in a World cup qualifier on Saturday.
Dolly and his two Sundowns’ teammates, captain Hlompho Kekana and Tebogo Langerman, were excused from the Bafana side that plays Ghana in Durban on Tuesday night because they are registered for the CAF Champions League.
The trio will instead start preparing for the first leg of the continental premier club competition's final in which they will take on Zamalek at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday at 3pm for the first leg.
If national Under-23 team coach Owen da Gama had his way, this would be the first time Dolly will be playing against Zamalek at home. Da Gama wanted his captain to fly with the team to Brazil just after playing against Zamalek in Cairo in July to prepare for the Olympics. But the Brazilians kept him because they wanted to wrap up qualification for the semi-finals, which they did with a victory over the Egyptian giants in Atteridgeville.
That period when Sundowns, the national Under-23 team and eventually the senior national team, were looking at Dolly for inspiration showed just how important the lad from Westbury was. He has taken the work load in his stride, without any complaint while being honest about his shortcomings.
Dolly’s standard response to his heavy work load has been constantly simple: “Players in Europe play more games than this and they don’t even have a Christmas break. This is preparing me for a bigger stage.”
That big stage is finally here, with the honour of being African champions up for grabs. The Fifa Club World Cup, an even bigger stage, is just the cherry on top for the winners. If the Brazilians are to reach these heights, they will need an energised Dolly who has been carrying an even bigger work load.
Against a speedy Zamalek midfield, Dolly will have to push and pin them back so as to remove the threat they pose while providing cover for leftback Tebogo Langerman. That’s how they beat the White Knights in the group stage.
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The Star