Khuse ecstatic as his prodigy Meyiwa Aces it in the first team

Donald “Ace” Khuse is beaming with pride after a number of players from the Kaizer Chiefs development side have been promoted to the club’s first team.

Khuse has seen one of his disciples, Wiseman Meyiwa, shine in the first team under the guidance of coach Steve Komphela.

Meyiwa was promoted from their MultiChoice Diski Challenge side, which is led by Khuse after the Pietermaritzburg-born youngster joined from his home side team and Absa Premiership club Maritzburg United.

Another player that has come up the development ranks at Chiefs is striker Yusuf Bunting who has scored regularly for Amakhosi’s MDC side. “We are obviously happy with the players being promoted to the first team. Then we work on getting players from our other youth teams (into the MDC team) and develop them,” said Khuse.

Along with Meyiwa and Bunting, Khotso Malope is a player that has returned from loan after he graduated to the first team two seasons ago and sent on loan to Swallows, Khuse doesn’t want to take too much credit for the players’ success, despite working with them from day to day.

“I cannot say that I did all the work, we work together to get the players ready for games and for the first team, we train the players and get them to work hard, playing for Chiefs is not like playing for any other team, so the first team find the right balance between having experienced players and the youngsters from development.”

“Ace”, a moniker given to Khuse (right) for his flair on the football field which has seemingly erased his first name from football fans’ minds, finds it hard to engage in activities that are not football related. Although Chiefs hold a special place in the 54-year-old’s heart, Ace admits he would consider an offer to coach another team if it was to be put in front of him.

“Yes, I would look at the offer if it was made.”

The father of two, a daughter and son, says young players must understand the importance of choosing a lifestyle that will complement your career as a footballer.

“If a player is disciplined they will go a long way. If a player stays away from a bad lifestyle it will see them play at the top for a long time, if they stay away from what will make their form on the field suffer – that is the way some players’ form drops, because of what happens off the field,” added Khuse.