Cape Town - Ajax Cape Town’s young stars have had a taste of success - and now they are motivated and determined to savour the feeling again.
Having been crowned MTN8 champions by beating Kaizer Chiefs two weeks ago, Ajax head into the top flight’s next cup competition this afternoon.
The Urban Warriors are in Durban to face newly-promoted Golden Arrows in the opening round of the Telkom Knockout (kickoff 3pm) aware that they can expect a difficult encounter against tricky opponents.
But for the Cape club’s exciting youth brigade, the win over Chiefs has revealed the true potential of the squad. The youngsters now know they can achieve at this level. One such talent looking to continue the team’s current success is winger Riyaad Norodien.
The 20-year-old had a sensational introduction to the PSL last season and has maintained that level of form at this early stage in the new campaign.
It’s taken some time for Norodien to come to prominence at senior level. Always highly rated as a junior, he left Kensington-based Norway Parks at a young age to enter the Ajax youth academy. His manager then tried to get him released from the Cape club, but they were then taken to arbitration by Ajax. The case, won by Ajax, took about 18 months and, for all that time, Norodien was on the sidelines.
Once it was all over and Norodien had committed himself to Ajax, he was brought back to training in January this year. Coach Roger de Sa immediately liked what he saw and threw the youngster into the mix. Norodien went on to take the PSL storm, impressing with his skill, pace and overall game awareness.
Earlier this season, in a friendly against Portugal giants Sporting Lisbon, the winger ran the European defenders ragged. And two weeks ago, he played an influential role in Ajax’s MTN8 final victory.
“It was fantastic winning the final against Chiefs, but it’s over now,” Norodien said. “We are already looking forward. We have the experience of winning and we want to keep doing well. There’s no pressure, we will just take things game by game.”
As for Arrows on Saturday, Norodien admitted he didn’t know too much about the opposition, but was confident Ajax would be well-briefed and prepared.
“Arrows weren’t in the PSL last season, so I haven’t played against them yet,” he said. “But from the videos we’ve seen, they look like a ball-playing team, with some tricky players. But we just have to apply our own game, make sure we are up to our potential, and go for the win.”
While Norodien has put in some good work this season, he still believes there’s room for improvement. “Obviously, I can do more,” he said. “No player can feel comfortable about his game, you have to always keep trying to do more. I think I need to score more goals and continue in trying to assist teammates to score.”
And Norodien has an opportunity to do more when he faces up to Arrows, to make a match-winning contribution as Ajax seek to have another positive run in a cup competition.
Weekend Argus