Atouba's expect to receive work permit before Saturday

Maritzburg United are confident of receiving a work permit for Cameroon international Yazid Atouba before Saturday’s MTN8 semifinal second leg tie against SuperSport United‚ handing coach Fadlu Davids a new option in his planning for the key game.

The signing of the 24-year-old striker is something of a coup for the KwaZulu-Natal club‚ who had been tracking the player for several months and worked out a deal with him when he played for AS Vita Club of the Democratic Republic of Congo against Mamelodi Sundowns in the African Champions League in Pretoria in July.

He was registered on deadline day last week but Maritzburg now await the work permit before they can field him.

The club are seeking to win a first-ever cup final place as they take a 1-1 score from the first leg in Pretoria into Saturday night’s return match at the Harry Gwala Stadium.

“We think we should get it well before the weekend‚” said the club’s operations manager Quintin Jettoo on Monday.

Atouba is a full Cameroon international‚ who is a left footer and can also play in the midfield.

He made his full international debut in 2011 in a friendly in Angola. He returned to the side in 2015 and scored at the CHAN-2016 finals tournament in Rwanda.

He also played at the U-20 World Cup in Colombia in 2011‚ where Cameroon reached the round of 16.

Atouba’s career started at Rainbow FC in Bamenda before he went to the USA after being signed by Chicago Fire‚ where he stayed just one season.

He went back to Cameroon to play for champions Coton Sport before moving to Kinshasa last year.

Atouba’s signing competes the quota of five foreigners in the Maritzburg squad this season.

The other four are Andrea Fileccia (Belgium)‚ Richard Ofori (Ghana)‚ Evans Rusike (Zimbabwe) and Denis Weidlich of Germany.

Kenyan international defender Brian Onyango is waiting for his permanent residence permit to be issued by the Department of Home Affairs which will make him eligible to compete in the Premier Soccer League as a South African after five years already in the country.