It might still be early into the season, but Kaizer Chiefs defender Rushwin Dortley is singing the praises of his club coach Nasreddine Nabi for his progress as he looks to cement his place in the senior national team.
Dortley was in the starting line-up and played the entire match as Bafana Bafana defeated Uganda 2-0 in Kampala on Friday in their penultimate Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
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The win boosted Bafana's chances of finishing the group at the top, having already qualified for next year's tournament in Morocco going to the fixture, with Dortley emerging as one of the influential players in defence.
Dortley says he hasn't found it difficult to adjust under Hugo Broos at Bafana as he believes that his style is similar to that of Nabi at Amakhosi.
"Look, I've learned a lot from my club coach, coach Nasreddine Nabi. His style of play, that's the way I like to play as one of my teammates Michael Morton [present] he knows the way I like to play. Coach Nabi it's the same thing, I have adapted quickly to his style of play, and I think coach Hugo Broos, it's a similar thing. The way they want to play and the way they want to do things, I think that's why it has been easy for me to adapt to Hugo Broos," said Dortley, speaking to the media during a Bafana press conference on the weekend.
The 22-year-old centre-back is looking forward to playing in front of his family in a familiar territory for the first time since leaving Cape Town Spurs for Chiefs at the end of last season.
"It feels good to be back home and playing at home again after leaving Cape Town. But 2024 for me has been really good so far in terms of my career and going to play at Kaizer Chiefs, it's the biggest club in the country, and it's been really good so far for me," he said.
"It's really good to reach one of my goals and to continue doing it, it means that my hard work is paying off. And for me, it's just to stay consistent and to keep on doing what I've been doing in order to get call ups again and to continue playing in the Bafana team," Dortley added.
"The level is very high but it's also good to have competition and sometimes playing above your level it also lifts you up and improves yourself. The players that are here, playing with players that are the best in the country, it's really amazing and good," the talented player continued.
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"It hasn't sunk in yet; it's always been my dream to play in front of my family for the national team, but I never thought it would be for Bafana. I always thought it was going to be for the U23s or in other junior levels, but for them to see me and for me to play in front of them it's really an honour and I'm so happy to see my family happy and always believing in me," concluded Dortley.
Bafana take on South Sudan on Tuesday in their last 2025 AFCON qualifier, in the Mother City.
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