Johannesburg - Kaizer Chiefs’ goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune is already planning for life after football as he’s part of Fifa’s goalkeeper coaching workshop that’s currently taking place at the Safa Technical Centre.
Khune, 34, is one of the most decorated players in South African football, given that he’s earned 91 caps for Bafana Bafana while he’s been playing top-flight football for Amakhosi for 15 years.
However, he’s been unfortunate with injuries in recent seasons. A feat that resulted in him dropping down the pecking order at Chiefs. So much so that he only played one game for the team last term.
That was a poor return for the man nicknamed ‘Mzansi’s No. 1’ by his admirers, as calls for him to hang up his gloves and focus on helping newly appointed coach Arthur Zwane gained momentum.
The senior team’s goalkeeping department is currently without a coach after Lee Baxter, the son of former coach Stuart, was released by the club this month after serving in the role since 2018.
Aubrey Mothibe recently rejoined the club as a goalkeeper coach, but it’s unlikely that he’ll succeed Baxter as the club are looking to equip Zwane with highly qualified people, who also know their identity.
Albeit not being qualified, Chiefs could still look at Khune to fill in the void left by Baxter. He’s played with Zwane before while he was part of the team when he became an assistant and now the coach.
Khune, though, is working hard to ensure that he equips himself as he joined the ongoing workshop at the mother body’s Technical Centre in Fun Valley, which is set to run between Tuesday and Friday.
Khune is alongside 24 participants, including Mothibe. He retweeted a tweet from his management team Brand Arc Football about him partaking in the course, saying: “Preparing for life after football”.
IOL Sport