Itumeleng Khune | Ntseki tells Kaizer Chiefs keeper to respect his career

Bafana Bafana head coach Molefi Ntseki has revealed having a lengthy telephonic discussion with Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune.

But before the said discussion, Ntseki confirmed speaking to Khune’s goalkeeper coach at Chiefs, Lee Baxter, asking him about the shot-stopper’s dip in form and the mistakes he made against SuperSport United and Black Leopards in December 2020.

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And Baxter confirmed Khune was called into a meeting by the Chiefs technical team to explain his goalkeeping errors at the time.  

“When it comes to Khune, yes, he made glaring mistakes against SuperSport United and Black Leopards but when I spoke to coach Lee Baxter about the situation, he said to me, they brought Khune in a meeting to find out what actually happened,” Ntseki told reporters on Thursday.

“As Khune was explaining, it was just one of those mistakes that you make in your career that you want to forget as quickly as possible because he explained that he was trying to play from the back and as a result they read into the pass and he made that mistake,” he explained.

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Ntseki then spoke to Khune recently, and told him to respect his career while also reminding him of the importance of being a leader, and the goalkeeper disclosed he was going through some personal problems.   

“Recently, I also spoke to Itumeleng about his situation. We had a very lengthy telephonic discussion and he was explaining to me what he’s going through as a person, as an individual,” he said.

“What I said to him is that, ‘you must also consider giving respect to your career and the profession that you are in, and you are not growing any younger. So, it is also important for you to be a leader in terms of how you do things around’,” said Ntseki.

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Nonetheless, Ntseki understands that every individual has their own challenges, and defended Khune’s selection to the Bafana Bafana squad, saying the former Chiefs captain is also human.

“I think any human being or individual has got those bad patches in life, and I think Itumeleng Khune is no different from all of that,” concluded Ntseki.

Ntseki’s explanation comes on the back of huge criticism from a section of South African football who questioned Khune’s inclusion in the latest Bafana Bafana squad that is set to face Ghana and Sudan in the AFCON qualifiers later this month.

The backlash stems from the fact that Khune made some goalkeeping blunders at club level and was recently caught on camera partying – the incident the majority of fans feels should not go unpunished.