Excelsior started the Eredivisie season 2026/27 with a convincing win over SC Cambuur. The 22-year-old Georgian Irakli Yegoian was responsible for the opening goal and set his teammate Noah Naujoks up to score the 0-2 for Excelsior. Yegoian shines immediately in his new role as right winger and is the first Player of the Week of the season. He scored an 8.5 for his performance against Cambuur and is the first goal-scorer of the Eredivisie season 2026/27. Yegoian was responsible for the opening goal of the new Eredivisie season and led Excelsior to a convincing win over SC Cambuur. The 22-year-old Georgian appeared in Leeuwarden not on the midfield, but fulfilled the role of right winger. And that choice of trainer Ruben den Uil turned out to be very good. Thanks to an 8.5 for his performance against Cambuur, Yegoian is the first Player of the Week. On the request of Gyan de Regt, Yegoian was Friday evening in the Kooi Stadium in Leeuwarden the first goal-scorer of the Eredivisie season 2026/27. And a quarter of an hour after his goal, he also set his teammate Noah Naujoks up to score the 0-2 for Excelsior. A special start of the season for Yegoian, who last season as a midfielder scored five times in the Eredivisie and gave two assists. Since the preparation for this season, Excelsior trainer Den Uil sees in the former (youth) player of Ajax, FC Twente and Vitesse more someone for (deep) on the right flank. Against Cambuur, Yegoian shone in that new role. 'A new position, it was a bit of a challenge, but it went well today', he said smiling to the camera of ESPN. 'Every match can be different, but the trainer has confidence in me in this position. As a forward, goals and assists are more important. Last season, I was much more focused on my tasks from the midfield: winning balls and making the game.' 'If I'm honest, I find playing on the midfield more enjoyable and then I see goals more as a bonus. Now I really have to focus more on goals and assists. If you don't make those, it can be that you have a worse match', Yegoian said, who made the switch from Vitesse to Excelsior about a year ago. Last season, he came to 31 matches (as a midfielder) for the Rotterdammers. Thanks to Yegoian, Excelsior managed to maintain its position as number 13 in the Eredivisie. Also in his home country of Georgia, his performances in the Eredivisie were already noticed: last June, he made his debut for the national team in a friendly match with Romania. On the evening when former Vitesse captain Guram Kashia took his leave after 129 internationals, Yegoian started his international career. About seventeen years ago, he left Georgia with his family in times of war and settled in the Netherlands. He grew up in various outlying areas of our country in azc's and foster families. Meanwhile, he dreamed of becoming a professional footballer and in the youth of Ajax and FC Twente, Yegoian was already allowed to taste it. At Vitesse, he received from then-trainer John van den Brom two years ago the chance to debut in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie. It soon turned out that the talented Georgian was not to be kept by the then still uncertain Vitesse. At Excelsior, Yegoian then showed that he was good enough for the Eredivisie. ## Late bloomer Last year in October, the first Player of the Week of this season called himself a 'late bloomer'. 'I always had talent, but was still a street footballer. I played not with my head, was not tactical. Actually until the Under-17. I never really took the maximum out of myself. Hard work I always did, only the football part didn't always come out', said Yegoian in an interview on VI PRO. 'One week it was very good and then I did the stupid things the next week. I was a bit of a street footballer, but I always had talent. I never really took the maximum out of myself. Hard work I always did, only the football part didn't always come out', said Yegoian in an interview on VI PRO.