Kaizer Chiefs head coach Arthur Zwane has praised the club’s work in their development ranks after several Amakhosi starlets helped the South African U20 side to reach the semi-finals at the COSAFA qualifiers for the U20 AFCON.
On Thursday, SA’s U20 side who coached by Chiefs’ DDC coach Vela Khumalo included eight players from the youth ranks of the Glamour Boys and beat Comoros 4-0 to progress to the semi-finals.
Chiefs’ youngster, Mduduzi Shabalala, who signed a first-team contract earlier this year, was named Man of the Match, while Prince Manku and Puso Dithejane were among the goal scorers.
On Thursday, Zwane was asked whether the dominance of Chiefs in the U20 side is a reflection of the club’s work in the development and ‘10111’, who himself worked in the youth ranks before being appointed as head coach, said it has been coming.
“I think, I’ve said this four years ago, if I’m not mistaken, I said the time will come for the country to benefit from Kaizer Chiefs because we didn’t want to rush into things. We were very relaxed in doing whatever we were doing and we wanted to achieve. Now we can reap the rewards,” Zwane told journalists.
“It is benefiting the country as well which is a good thing and I’m sure you’ve seen the results in our development, the U19s just won Engen Champ of Champs, a month ago they won the Engen Knockout Challenge tournament. Our U17s they won a cup as well, U13 they’ve been doing very well and U15 they lost in the semi-final’s through penalties and our reserve team they just won the Diski Shield.
“That alone tells you, but we are not saying to our boys ‘go out there and win at all costs’. We focus more on our system of play because the system of play will make you identify [players] because it’s talent identification when you bring in players.
“So it helped us big time when we do recruitments, what type of players we looking for and that’s why right now in the development things are smooth sealing. Yes, there’s still a lot of work to do but there’s a lot of improvement as well, which is good. Simply because of the identity – identity yield results in future.”
Earlier this season, Mduduzi Shabalala scored his first senior goal for Amakhosi when they beat Maritzburg United back in August, while a week ago Samkelo Zwane made his senior debut against Stellenbosch FC in Cape Town.
Meanwhile, SA’s U20 side will now face Mozambique, who are also the defending champions, in the semi-final on Saturday.
Zwane Not Afraid To Play 15 Year Olds
