Khune injury blow to Bafana hopes
JOHANENSBURG. - Experienced goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune looks set to miss South Africa’s two vital 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Senegal due to an injury.
The 30-year-old broke the bone around his right eye as his Kaizer Chiefs side beat Chippa United 1-0 on Saturday.
Khune was taken to hospital and a scan revealed what the club medical staff called an “optical fracture’.
South Africa need to beat Senegal at home on Friday and again away four days later to qualify for the World Cup.
He will see an eye specialist on Monday to determine whether he needs surgery but is out for between a month and six weeks, Chiefs’ physiotherapist David Milner told BBC Sport.
Chippa United’s Kurt Lentjies could not check his follow through as he challenged for a ball which Khune had taken out of the air and hit the goalkeeper square in the face in the last minute of the quarter-final of South Africa’s League Cup.
Senegal realistically need just a draw on Friday to go through but a win would definitely confirm their participation in Russia next June.
The game in Polokwane is being replayed after the result of South Africa’s 2-1 win over Senegal at the same venue last November was found to have been manipulated by Ghana referee Joseph Lamptey and Fifa ordered a replay.
South Africa had been in strong contention before their double-header against the Cape Verde Islands in September which Khune missed because of illness.
Replacement Ronwen Williams, 25, turned in a jittery performance and gave up two goals in the match in Praia which South Africa lost 2-1.
He was replaced by veteran Wayne Sandilands, 34, for the return game against the islanders in Durban.
However he was beaten by two long range effort by Garry Rodrigues as Cape Verde snatched an upset win and beat South Africa for a second time in a matter of days and dealt a major blow to Bafana Bafana’s hopes.
Khune returned to the line-up for last month’s qualifier against Burkina Faso with his presence in goal engendered the necessary confidence and seeing South Africa to a comfortable 3-1 victory in Johannesburg.
A veteran of 84 appearances - the third most by any South African international - Khune has been in a rich vein of form in the last weeks, winning the award as the South African Premier Soccer League’s player of the month for August and September.
Meanwhile Uganda captain and goalkeeper Denis Onyango has made it clear that he does not feel local coaches are ready to take charge of the national team. The Federation of Uganda Football Associations (Fufa) are hoping to name a new coach on 15 November, with interim coach Moses Basena among the applicants.
“Although we need to start trusting our local coaches despite their weaknesses, they need to step up and stand their ground on certain things,” Onyango told BBC Sport.
“I don’t see in Uganda local coaches who can take decisions and own them.”
The 32-year-old goalkeeper, the current African Player of the Year based on the continent, added that someone with experience in Africa and who speaks English is crucial.
“Due to the nature of the players we have, there is certain kind of football that we cannot play and so we shouldn’t bring in a coach who will have to start from scratch to learn the African style and approach,” he said.
“It is very important for us to return to the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019 and that has got to do with the kind of coach who will be appointed, we could easily fail if we have a coach who cannot fit well with our style.”
The chairman of the Confederation of African Football’s technical committee and former Zambia player, Kalusha Bwalya, is helping Fufa with the recruitment process. - BBC Sport.