Johannesburg - It took just 10 minutes on Monday for Itumeleng Khune to show why he is the ideal person to lead the national Under-23 team in the Olympics.
But he might be limited to doing that behind the scenes and on the bench during match-day, which doesn’t bother him.When Khune came on for Jody February at the start of the second half in their training match against Bidvest Wits in Milpark, the Kaizer Chiefs number one commanded the defence with more authority.
He showed why he is the most capped goalkeeper (75) in Bafana Bafana’s history. But in those 10 minutes he also picked up an injury that saw him fail to finish that match. It was nothing serious, just a muscle that went numb after a bad tackle.
He put ice on it on Monday night and on Tuesday he will have his club's medics look at it during his day off with the national Under-23 team when he will be at part of pre-season at Amakhosi.
Those 10 minutes showed the good and bad of Khune. The good is that he is an inspirational leader who can organise the back and inspire his teammates as seen by Nkosingiphile Gumede being more vocal after replacing him.
The bad is that he hasn’t been the same since being forced to train alone during the protracted contractual saga he had with Amakhosi at the end of the 2014/15 season and spilling into the start of the last campaign.
He picked up weight and injuries plus a good showing by Reyaad Pieterse for Steve Komphela's team limited his game time. The Under-23 team will watch his fitness closely while he helps February and Gumede become more vocal.
But he won’t be taking a leaf out of Cristiano Ronaldo’s book and turn to coaching off the bench like the Portuguese star did after getting injured in the final of the European Championship.
“Ronaldo is an icon,” Khune said. “He is a big player. I am not on the same level as Ronaldo. I can’t take over. I will let the coach do his job.”
Not that he will not be his usual vocal self: “(Of course) I will try by all means to help wherever I can. But I won’t stand on the sidelines, run up and down as if the coach isn’t doing his job. I will respect the coach’s job. Yet I will do whatever I can, behind closed doors, in the change rooms and at training.
“If I need to add one or two words, I will do that as a senior player because most of the young ones are scared to voice their opinions,” said the over-age player who will not have the armband.
Coach Owen da Gama and his technical team will select the captain between three candidates - current incumbent Keagan Dolly, Kwanda Mngonyama and Rivaldo Coetzee. Dolly will join them on Wednesday after returning from Cairo where he helped Mamelodi Sundowns defeat Zamalek to put one foot in the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League.
French-based Lebogang Mothiba will also arrive on Wednesday to complete the squad. The Chiefs pair of Khune and Mathoho will, however, come in and out of camp so that they can also represent their club in a pre-season friendly.\”It means a lot for me to be in this team because it’s an opportunity to play in the Olympics which I and my generation couldn’t qualify for,” Khune said.
“We failed the nation at that time (Beijing 2008). This is a chance to make amends.”
The Star