Cape Town – Dino Ndlovu hopes his impressive season with Chinese League One side Zhejiang Greentown will open doors for other ambitious South African footballers.
China might not seem to be the ideal football destination for budding young stars but Ndlovu has thrived in the country and is on the verge of guiding his side to the Chinese Super League.
A South Africa international, who formerly played for Mamelodi Sundowns, Bloemfontein, SuperSport United and Mpumalanga Black Aces in the Premiership, Ndlovu has also spent a number of years playing abroad.
He was with Bnei Yehuda and Maccabi Haifa in Israel as well as Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta and Azerbaijani football club Qarabag – before moving to China in 2018.
The 28-year-old has 18 goals in 22 appearances for the Green Giants, with the club now just two wins away from promotion.
Speaking to the SowetanLIVE website, the Bafana Bafana forward said: "Everyone has their own perception and conclusions about football, especially the SA media and fans.
"But the one thing I can tell them is that the second [division] leagues, anywhere in the world, are the toughest and even with the NFD (SA's national first division), you know how it is.
"The team bought me to come score goals and I said to myself, 'this is the target', and I need to do this for myself and the team. So far, things have gone my way."
He added: "It will mean a lot to win promotion but not only for me, it's for the people of Hangzhou.
"It's one of the richest teams in the second league and to not go back to the super league would be a shame.
"Personally, I would have opened the door for other Africans who want to play for Hangzhou."
