Mukura Victory Sports wonderkid Elie Tatou Iradukunda admits he was surprised to learn that new Rwanda head coach Torsten Frank Spittler handed him a debut callup in the national team.

Iradukunda, 17, made the cut in the 30-man provisional squad that Spittler named on Saturday, November 4, preparing for their opening two World Cup Qualifiers against Zimbabwe and South Africa. His is the youngest in the squad which started the residential camp on Sunday.

The budding winger says he was astonished by the call up but he is at the same time excited to learn that the coach and his assistants admire his work.

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"I am surprised but the call up is so good for me. It shows my hard work has been recognized," Iradukunda told Times Sport.

"I am ready to give my maximum best in the national team and the fans should expect something good from a young hardworking boy with ambitions."

Iradukunda has enjoyed an impressive start to the season with Mukura and his performance has caught the attentional of local and foreign clubs including Belgian side KAA Gent who sent their scout Harry Varley in October to monitor his development this season.

Iradukunda joins a team which is looking to put their poor 2023 AFCON qualifying campaign aside and start a new journey to the World Cup under new head coach Spittler.

The winger believes Spittler has selected a group of players who can achieve great things together during the upcoming World Cup qualifiers campaign.

"I believe we have great players and we can excel in the world cup qualifiers. We are playing our first two games at home and it is a big advantage. We can amass the maximum six points," he said.

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The goal that earned him a callup!

Iradukunda proved his worth when he hit a 30-yard screamer against Rayon Sports on Saturday despite his team losing 4-1.

The strike, which could easily contest for the goal of the season award, didn’t come by chance as the youngster revealed that he has been practicing similar attempts in training.

"The goal that I scored against Rayon Sports is as a result of my training. I have been training for so long on how to score inside and outside the box," he said.

Rwanda will host the Warriors of Zimbabwe at Huye Stadium on November 15 before taking on Bafana Bafana at the same venue six days later.