Safa clarifies Quinton’s role in Bafana
Ex-player set to travel with squad
After failing to travel with Bafana Bafana to Zambia recently, the national team’s former player Quinton Fortune is certain to travel to Cape Verde Islands with the team today.
SA Football Association spokesman Dominic Chimhavi clarified Fortune’s position with the team in an interview with Sowetan yesterday.
There has been some confusion with regards to whether Fortune has joined on a fulltime basis.
He was supposed to travel with Bafana’s African Nations Championship squad to Zambia where he was going to assist Thabo Senong in head coach Stuart Baxter’s absence, but he didn’t make the trip. Bafana lost 2-0 and failed to qualify for the tournament.
Fortune, though, will now travel with Bafana to Cape Verde, despite previous public backlash that followed the announcement he could be handed a Bafana role. Some fans felt he was not loyal to Bafana in his heyday, but would now serve as Baxter’s assistant alongside Senong.
“It’s not just Quinton, because there are other legends who the association has brought in,” Chimhavi told Sowetan. Former Bafana goalkeeper Andre Arendse is also going to Cape Verde.
Arendse, who is the goalkeeper coach at Super-Sport United, comes in to play the same role, which means Alex Heredia is no longer with the national team.
Aaron Mokoena, Bafana’s record holder with 107 caps, Helman Mkhalele and Phil Masinga also have a role in the national setup. “Helman has helped with the U-20s [as an assistant coach]. Phil is in the legends structures. Aaron is now helping [team manager] Bra Barney [Kujane] as his assistant.
“So this is just a fraction of how we are trying to empower our legends to ensure they play a critical role in the development of football in the country, you understand. So this is not just about Quinton. “So as an association, we are doing a lot to make sure we utilise our legends in Safa’s structures,” Chimhavi added. Sowetan learnt that none of the above legends work full time .