By the time Mamelodi Sundowns striker Iqraam Rayners wakes up out in Orlando, Florida (six hours behind SA time) – he will have had his first sleep since scoring his first goal at the FIFA Club World Cup.
It is a goal that will be remembered for famously earning Sundowns their first win at this tournament and it didn’t matter that he had another two strikes cancelled by VAR for handball and offside.
Beyond that, it will propel his value upwards towards double what he was on upon joining the PSL champions from Stellenbosch FC 10 months ago.
He scored in the finals of the CAF Champions League and Carling Knockout.
Rayners has also been the most prolific forward at the Tshwane giants, providing a goal/assist with every 96 minutes that he has played since arriving at Chloorkop.
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The 29-year-old has played 3071 minutes for the club (44 appearances) with a return of 23 goals and 9 assists.
His latest was against Ulsan HD in the early hours of Wednesday and came with heavy weight of earning the club almost R36 million, which is what FIFA pays for a group stage win.
"For me, it was about my team first, the technical team and the people that were behind us," says Rayners, who was named Superior Player of the Match.
"For us as a team, the important thing was to get a win and that is what matters to us and I’m happy we did win the game.
"And also, we had a lot of opportunities to kill the game, so I’m happy for the victory.
"I’m happy we got a victory, and we were not surprised about them because the coach gave us all the details," he said having left an impression on his coach Miguel Cardoso.
"Iqraam is a player that has a wonderful definition, he understands how to and when to use spaces on the pitch.
"It is wonderful to have quality players, and we have a locker room full of them," said Cardoso.
Photo: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista
