JOHANNESBURG – The South African Football Association (Safa) has appointed Helman “Midnight Express” Mkhalele as the second Bafana Bafana assistant coach of the newly appointed commander in chief Hugo Broos – the association announced on Friday afternoon.
After his appointment as the new coach of Bafana a fortnight ago, Broos admitted that he’ll have two deputies – a Belgian and a South African – who'll beside him when he works on reigniting the ailing senior men's national team for the next five-years.
Broos wasted no time in confirming that Macedonian-born coach Cedomir Janevski will come in as his Belgian deputy. Janevski has a long history with Belgian football, having played and coached teams such as Club Brugge, while his wife is also Belgian.
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Janevski was expected to touch down in Mzansi this week after leaving Cyprian side Olympiakos Nicosia last week. But Broos was reluctant to confirm his local assistant, saying he was still discussing possible options with the Technical Committee.
However, the 69-year-old Belgian dropped a bombshell during a live interview with SafmSportOn last week, saying his predecessor Molefi Ntseki, who was fired by the association in March after failing to guide Bafana to the 2022 Afcon, had agreed to be his deputy.
Safa were quick to squash Broos’ remarks, saying they’ll announce his local deputy in due course. On Friday, though, Safa finally put the speculations to bed, announcing that the Under-20 national team coach Mkhalele will be Broos’ second assistant for the duration of his term.
Janevski and Mkhalele are set to be on the dugout when Bafana play a friendly match against Uganda on June 10 in South Africa. Broos, though, will be monitoring the game from Belgium where he’s expected to receive his second dosage of the Covid-19 vaccine.
IOL Sport