Ntseki has finger on the country’s football pulse

● Spending time with Molefi Ntseki told me a tale of a man who has his finger on the pulse of his, erm, football.

We sat in his office, a soulless structure with a round table, a room divider, a pile of energy drinks stacked against the wall in one corner and bags of training equipment neatly packed in the other corner.

Ntseki opines that the office previously occupied by his predecessor Stuart Baxter is lifeless.

He still has to add some “personality, add my own touch to it” he tells me and colleague photographer Alon Skuy.

Vowing to give his all as we chewed cud (see Table Talk on page 12) on the daunting task ahead of him, it became apparent that the unassuming background man who has been thrust to the foreground as the new Bafana Bafana coach is not a happy-go-lucky upstart. If you are looking for a man with quotable quotes tumbling from his tongue, Ntseki is not your man.

If yours is a search for he who is ready to ensure the continuity of the conveyor belt from junior to senior players, look no further than Ntseki.

When the topic turned to the national under-23 team and their quest to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Japan, Ntseki got into his groove as he excitedly talked through the team.

Listening to him rattle out some of the names of the players who lined up for the SA under-23s in the first-leg match against Zimbabwe at Orlando Stadium, painted a picture of a man with a passion for youth.

“When I look at the team that played the first leg against Zimbabwe, it gives us hope to say in years to come we would have had players who have played at the junior World Cups who will graduate to play at senior World Cup.

If yours is a search for continuity from junior to senior players, look no further than Ntseki

“The goalkeeper was Mondli Mboto, who played in the Under-17 World Cup. In defence we had Reeve Frosler (U-17 World Cup), Tercious Malepe (U-17 and U-20 World Cups), Keanu Cupido (U-17 World Cup).

“In midfield we had Athenkosi Dlala (U-17 World Cup), Tebogo Mokoena and Sipho Mbule (both U-20 World Cup)

“In attack we had Luther Singh (U-20 World Cup and Kobamelo Kodisang (U-17 and U-20 World Cups) as well as Lyle Foster (U-20 and Brics tournament).”

These players helped the team beat Zimbabwe 5-0 on aggregate after the return leg ended goalless.

To think that there is still dreadlocked midfield baller Mahlatsi who comes from the U-17, Jimmy Webber from the U-20 as well as Thabo Cele and Sandile Mthethwa, you understand why Ntseki is cautiously optimistic about the future. The future is Bafana Bafana.

In the recent past the biggest problem with players in the junior national teams is that they didn’t command any game time at their clubs. That scenario has changed for the better as most of them are becoming important members of their teams.

Mokoena and Mbule are regulars at SuperSport United.

Malepe, on loan from Orlando Pirates, is getting game time at Chippa United.

Frosler runs riot on the right flank for Kaizer Chiefs. Singh is in the books of Sporting de Braga in Portugal but on loan at Chives.

Foster is turning out for Cercle Brugge in Belgium’s Jupiter Pro League.

This development bodes well for the future of Bafana, a future that is in the hands of a man who knows these boys like the back of his hand.

Another snag is that there has been no organised natural progression of these age groups from one level to the next.

We missed a trick with the Class of 2000. We repeated the mistake with the golden generation of 2009.

With Ntseki in charge of Bafana, it would be stupid if this under-23 group under David Notoane is not jealously guarded and nurtured.

“I would say that the plan is the succession of the generations to spill over to Bafana,” said Ntseki. Amen!

Twitter: @bbkunplugged99