A young forward could be on his way to living up to his early billing and might be knocking on the door of Bafana Bafana soon, because his goal contributions are higher than any South African playing locally and abroad this season.
Tashreeq Matthews is starting to come out of his shell after he started his career with high expectations after joining Borussia Dortmund's reserve side in 2018 from Ajax Cape Town. Now, at IK Sirius in Sweden he amazingly has 16 goal contributions this season already, and that's higher than any South African player in Hugo Broos' recent squads.
The Swedish league is not as strong as the Premier League in England or Ligue 1 in France, but going by raw stats, Matthews is at least showing that he's a player that we need to keep an eye on again.
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A few years ago, Matthews was sent out on loan to Dutch U21 side Utrecht in January 2019 and went back to German outfit Dortmund at the end of that season but he was sent out on loan again to Swedish top flight side Helsingborgs IF in August 2019. The 23-year-old has been plying his trade in Sweden since, as after his loan spell at Helsingborg he joined Varbergs BoIS in the Allsvenskan in January 2020. Since leaving Varbergs to join IK Sirius, the South African winger has been in great scoring form, netting nine goals and he notched up seven assists in 26 matches for Sirius this season.
That is very good numbers, as currently for South Africans only Bongokuhle Hlongwane comes close, with eight goals and three assists in 29 matches for his for Major League Soccer club Minnesota United.
However, in comparison to other South African forwards, most of the leagues are in the early stages. Bafana forward Percy Tau had a return of 10 goals in 41 matches across all competitions for Al Ahly last season. South African striker Fagray Lakay scored 10 goals in 30 league games for Egyptian side Pyramids last season.
Bafana forward Lyle Foster scored eight goals in 21 league games for Belgian side KVC Westerlo in the 2022/23 season, before he was sold to Burnley in January this year, where he managed only one goal for the Clarets in the Championship before their promotion to the Premier League.
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Locally, Khanyisa Mayo scored 12 goals in 27 matches for Cape Town City last term, as he finished as the joint-top goal-scorer in the DStv Premiership while Cassius Mailula scored nine goals in 17 league matches and an additional six goals in 10 CAF Champions League games for Mamelodi Sundowns last season before he was sold to MLS side Toronto FC.
Another South African knocking on the Bafana door is Moroka Swallows striker Tshegofatso Mabasa, who has scored six goals in eight league games and is currently the top goal-scorer in the Premiership. Matthews was capped only once by the South African U20 national team and scored on his debut in a 2-1 win over England in a friendly international at age 16 years and 11 months.
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