Rowan Human says he would love to play with Keagan Dolly at Kaizer Chiefs

10 July 2023 - 10:52 By SITHEMBISO DINDI
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Bafana Bafana player Rowan Human challenged by Norman Mabaya of Botswana during the 2023 Cosafa Cup match at King Zwelithini Stadium on July 8 2023.
Bafana Bafana player Rowan Human challenged by Norman Mabaya of Botswana during the 2023 Cosafa Cup match at King Zwelithini Stadium on July 8 2023.
Image: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

In-demand Maritzburg United midfield sensation Rowan Human says he would love to play with his idol and homeboy Keagan Dolly at Kaizer Chiefs, amid reports of interest from the Soweto giants.

Human, 22, playing for Bafana Bafana in the Cosafa Cup in Durban, has been heavily linked with Chiefs while SuperSport United are also in the mix.

The player shone in the past season for Maritzburg, but his efforts were not enough to help the Team of Choice avoid relegation from the DStv Premiership via the playoffs.

Human has the ability to control the game like a seasoned player and is dangerous around the box, which will make a great acquisition for any side.

At 20, Human secured a move to Israel to play for Maccabi Tel Aviv, a sign of how talented he is. The player is aware of the demand for his services, but says potential suitors will have to bring a good enough offer to convince Maritzburg boss Farook Kadodia to let him go.

Human is from Westbury in Johannesburg, the same suburb that produced Dolly and Bafana, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur legend Steven Pienaar. The Maritzburg star looks up to those players and is determined to follow in their footsteps.   

“I speak to Keagan a lot and I feel like there’s not much pressure, but I need to keep working hard,” Human said.

“There are good players there and we boys from there just need to stay focused on football because there’s a lot of talent.

“It will be nice to play with him [Dolly], but whatever happens, it happens,” he said.

Human says his focus is on Bafana despite the obvious distraction of where he will be playing next season.

“I get that question a lot but at this point I’ve told my agent that I’m at Cosafa and I’m focusing on this. 

“This is an opportunity for me and for now, I’m not sure what is going to happen.” 

The player is disappointed by how things ended with Maritzburg. 

“It wasn’t the best season for us, I feel like we were not consistent enough. We started badly at the beginning of the season. We won big games but then we went on to lose again.

“We changed coaches obviously and coach Fadlu [Davids] came with something new — we didn’t win in the first game but after that we won three games in a row.

“Just when we thought we found our form, we lost again. It was just ups and downs and inconsistency — that's why we ended up being relegated. Even in the playoffs we made a lot of errors.” 

Bafana meet Eswatini in a must-win Cosafa Cup clash at Princess Magogo Stadium on Tuesday (6pm). 

South Africa are top of group A with four points from their 1-1 draw with Namibia and Saturday's 2-1 victory over Botswana.

A win will see Bafana proceed to the semifinals of the regional tournament they are looking to win after failing to defend it last year. 

“The first game was tough because it was our first competitive game together, besides playing a friendly, and you could see the guys understood what the coach wanted and how we wanted to play as a team to get a positive result,” Human said. 

“In [Saturday's] game, the fans pushed us a lot after going a goal down.

“There were improvements from the first game, and you could see that we had played together.”

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