As one of Bafana Bafana’s most valuable assets, Mamelodi Sundowns star Jayden Adams recently revealed why he could become a stalwart in midfield for both club and country for years to come.

The 24-year-old started on the bench during Sundowns’ 1-1 draw with Pyramids in their first-leg CAF Champions League final clash at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Nonetheless, the game did not go according to Miguel Cardoso’s plans in first-half, at least from a tactical point of view.

Adams was then summoned from the bench in the 37th minute, a rare occurrence from a usually tactically assured Sundowns’ midfield department. After replacing Tashreeq Matthews, who looked out of sorts throughout the first-half, Adams immediately provided Sundowns with control in the middle of the park.

In explanation of the drastic tweak, Cardoso explained that he needed to make the change sooner rather than later.

“I could have waited a little bit, but I decided to change immediately the during the first half in order to try to rebalance the team and cope with the kind of game that was being played on the pitch, and to have mostly the capacity to have more ball and to then approach ourselves in the control of the game,” Cardoso said, as per iDiskiTimes.

While Sundowns were unable to see out the game unscathed, Adams gave a good account of himself as a quick solution and in turn, showcased his quality as a top up-and-coming star in African football.