Throughout the years, Kaizer Chiefs has been known for having the best goalkeeping department in the league.
Their endless list of top-notch keepers includes the likes of William Shongwe, Brian Baloyi, Rowen Fernandez, Arthur Bartman and Itumeleng Khune.
But of late, Chiefs have been experiencing all sorts of problems with their goalkeepers. Last season Brandon Petersen made a series of fatal mistakes and easily gave away goals to the opposition.
Petersen faced criticism after failing to trap and pass the ball during Amakhosi’s second-leg MTN8 semi-final against Mamelodi Sundowns in 2023, which led to a quick goal by Peter Shalulile within the opening minute, marking the end of Chiefs’ run in the competition.
On October 28, 2023, Petersen had a chance to redeem himself during their visit to Golden Arrows at Mpumalanga Stadium. However, he struggled to control the ball again, allowing Knox Mutizwa to score. The Glamour Boys ultimately suffered a 2-1 loss.
Newly appointed Nasreddine Nabi roped in experienced goalkeeper coach Ilyes Mzoughi to replace Rainer Dinkelacker who had arrived at the club in 1999 with then-coach Muhsin Ertugral. Dinkelacker initially left Amakhosi at the end of the 2012/13 season but was brought back for a season during the start of 2023/24.
The new regime signed on-form TS Galaxy and Rwandan shot-stopper Fiacre Ntwari who has been their first-choice keeper since the start of the season. The 25-year-old has so far played nine games, kept one clean sheet and conceded 14 goals.
Khune, who is the product of the development structures of the Naturena-based team has been with the club for over 25 years. He was featured in 347 matches, conceded 274 goals and kept 153 clean sheets.
There’s no doubt he’s a club legend and the best goalkeeper to ever wear the Chiefs jersey. Khune acknowledged that playing for Amakhosi brings significant pressure due to the team’s large fan base.
“Playing for a big club like Kaizer Chiefs is not easy, a lot of legends and people who have travelled this path before us have been sharing their stories that Kaizer Chiefs jersey is heavy, it’s not for everyone,” said Khune.
The 37-year-old encouraged the current goalkeepers to focus on creating their own path and contributing to the team, emphasizing that they shouldn’t worry too much about who they are replacing.
“With the current goalkeepers, I think they have great potential they just have to forget about who they’ve replaced and focus on themselves and helping the team going forward.
“I just want the guys not to put themselves under pressure and say ‘we have to prove a point that we are or we will be better than Itumeleng Khune’, no they must run their own race, be on their own lane and in no time they would have surpassed what Khune has achieved,” Khune concluded.
Written by Siphesihle Soni