AFC Bournemouth
With Carabao Cup fever set to grip Vitality Stadium this evening, Dominic Sadi has his eyes on getting another experience under his belt.
To tee up the third-round meeting with Everton, the development squad midfielder proved an unlikely hero against Norwich City in the previous tie.
Introduced as late substitutes he and Brooklyn Genesini combined late into injury time for the latter to level and cue penalties at Carrow Road.
With the young Cherries side going on to claim victory in the shoot-out, the fixture became one which will live long in Sadi’s memory.
“That night was surreal,” the midfielder told afcb.co.uk. “Just coming on in itself was amazing – to be making my professional debut.
“To come on with Brooklyn as well and how we went about it, everything about it was unreal.
“Going on to the next round and, hopefully, to play in front of the home fans this time will be another unbelievable experience.”
While being a hit on the pitch was unexpected for Sadi, a post on TikTok with footage from the middleman’s day led to another unexpected hit on social media.
Recording just shy of half-a-million views and over 70,000 likes on his personal account the 19-year-old was taken aback by the response.
He explained on the reaction to his TikTok post: “No, I didn’t expect it, but I’ll take it nevertheless! I got a lot of love online and that was just amazing, too.
“The fans and people back at home, everyone has just been supporting me, and that’s been so nice.”
Having joined the Cherries during the summer following a successful trial period, Sadi arrived with two years of non-league experience under his belt at Wingate & Finchley.
Since his arrival the midfielder has gone on to impress for the development squad, train with the first team – including attending their pre-season camp in Portugal – and make his professional debut.
When asked if the milestones which have followed in quick succession at AFC Bournemouth were expected upon arrival, the 19-year-old thoughtfully returned: “Definitely not, I’ll be honest.
“When I go back and speak to my family, we all say it’s happened so quick!
“But these are the moments that you work your life for and as a young player, like myself, they’re the moments you want to experience young.
“I’m just thankful to everyone at the club that has given me this opportunity.”
Another milestone which the middleman recent checked of his season to-do list was a first goal of the campaign, with the second, third and fourth quickly following.
A development squad friendly against Newport County's under-23s last week saw Sadi deliver a stunning display in an 8-2 win; four goals and one assist his afternoon haul.
“It was wonderful out there,” he recounted. “I finally got my first goal this season and got my first four, it was brilliant. The boys played amazing.
“Everyone was behind me and encouraging me before the game, saying that it was my time to go out there and finally score.
“I was just happy that I was out there to express myself and get the win for the boys.”
Having been itching to get his goal tally for the term off the mark Sadi has not been resting on his laurels, ensuring he was in prime position to break his duck with work on the training pitch.
He said: “Since pre-season I’ve not been getting the goals that I’ve wanted when I’ve been shooting.
“So, during training and after training, I’ve just been working in front of goal and practicing getting my goals in.
“With working on that I was happy to have some success in that game and put four in.”
While the 19-year-old is taking nothing for granted as he forges a career at Vitality Stadium, he is ready for the Toffees challenge should he be called upon like against the Canaries.
“It’s going to be a massive challenge, definitely,” Sadi said. “They’re the type of games you want to play in and really want to go for.
“The Newport friendly was a good warm-up and an opportunity to show my abilities going into Tuesday.
“Hopefully, we can go in and get through to the next round again.”
Kick-off against Frank Lampard’s Toffees at Vitality Stadium this evening is scheduled for 7:45pm.
