THERE has bee a bit of confusion and questions raised as to who is Molefi Ntseki, the newly appointed Bafana Bafana head coach. Normally quiet and using his expertise behind the scenes as assistant coach to many Bafana coaches, Ntseki has contributed immensely to the growth and development of South African football into what it is today.
HERE are 10 things you need to know about Molefi Ntseki.
1. He was born in the Free State where he qualified as a professional teacher and spent time in a classroom between 1988-1998.
2. The 50-year-old started developing an interest in football from school while still a teacher, and he played for Free State teams like Unisaints and Welkom Stars.
3. His coaching journey started in 1998 when he led Welkom Stars which by then was campaigning in the Vodacom League, and got the team promoted to the National First Division (NFD), which was his first big achievement.
4. He went on to the Harmony Sports Academy between 2003-2007 before moving on to African Warriors as head coach, and lasted for two years from 2007-2009.
5. From there on, his career blossomed to being assistant coach at Bloemfontein Celtic, and doubled that with heading their development structures between 2010-2012.
6. He has worked with a number of Bafana Bafana coaches as assistant - Ephraim "Shakes" Mashaba, Owen Da Gama and recently Stuart Baxter.
7. He qualified the South African Under-17 national to their 2015 Fifa World Cup in Chile, where they were knocked out in the group stages after defeats to Costa Rica, drew with North Korea and lost to Russia.
8. He worked with Serame Letsoaka as his assistant with the Under-20s and was part of Safa's Vision 2022.
9. Ntseki is a radio sport analyst with Lesedi FM, an SABC Sesotho radion station based in Bloemfontein, where he shares his expertise with listeners and prepares them for what could be expected in the game being covered.
10. He believes in the South African style of play, and prefers to leave players with freedom to express themselves while in the field of play. This will be his first time leading Bafana as head coach, and his first assignment is a friendly against Zambia, as they prepare for their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. For the qualifier they are in a group with Ghana, Mauritius or Sao Tome and Sudan. Bafana's first qualifier is against Ghana on 11 November.
