Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune has been the undisputed number one for club and country for the best part of a decade now, fighting off competition from numerous pretenders to his throne. But what sets khune apart from the rest? KICK OFF spoke to his former goalkeeper coach and mentor at Naturena Rainer Dinkelacker about how a teenage who dreamed of being a stiker rose to arguably the finest gloveman the country has ever seen
Rainer Dinkelacker was a key figure in the rise of Itumeleng Khune, mentoring the Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper during two spells spent at Naturena. He knows better than anybody the strengths and weaknesses of his protégé, and why Khune has managed to stay the distance as South Africa’s top goalkeeper since he made his Premier Soccer League breakthrough in 2008.
With Chiefs embarking on a massive rebuilding project and freshening up of their squad, they can at least take comfort in one of the best-ever manning the barricades on the last line of defence.
Dinkelacker reveals a mix of attributes that set the Ventersdorp-born star apart from his rivals.
Right role-models
“When Khune was promoted to the first team he had two excellent goalkeepers to learn from – Brian Baloyi and Rowen Fernandez. Both were great professionals and taught him a lot,” Dinkelacker says from his home in Germany.
“Khune was promoted alongside Thela Ngobeni and they were both fine young keepers. The difference back then was that Khune was able to attend every session, while Ngobeni had a problem at school and could only be there twice a week.
“But I could see that Khune was very special. His movement, his accuracy in catching the ball … he was a special talent. And he made tremendous progress working with Brian and Rowen because he
“You could see that he was passionate about what he was doing and always wanted to be better, but in some areas he really excelled.”
Deadly distribution
“Khune’s distribution is a key weapon for the team and very early he mastered this,” Dinkelacker says.
“It was actually Rowen who came up with the ‘side volley’ technique of distributing the ball fast and flat, but Khune showed he was excellent at it.
This story is from the January 2017 edition of Kickoff.
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This story is from the January 2017 edition of Kickoff.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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