Amakhosi goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune said on Monday upon hearing of the confirmation that national team coach Carlos Alberto Parreira had confirmed that he would be stepping down as the Bafana Bafana coach due to personal reasons, that he was deeply saddened by the fact that Parreira had decided to step down.

The 65-year-old Fifa World Cup Winning coach confirmed on Monday afternoon at a press conference held in Johannesburg confirmed the media speculation about him leaving, he said that he was sad to have to be going but because of personal reasons he had to leave. Parreira’s assistants Jaro Leal and Pitso Mosimane will remain in their positions in the Bafana Bafana set while; Parreira himself will take on the role of a technical advisor. Khune believes that steps taken to retain Leal and Mosimane are positive ones and are good for continuity and the fact that Parreira will still be involved in advisory capacity bode well for the players who have been part of the set up under his guise.

Khune confused

Itumeleng Khune said to kaizerchiefs.com that he was confused and did not know how to take the news of Parreira’s departure and said, “all weekend long I have read the stories and was some how hoping they were not true. Now that this has been confirmed it is really bad news for me, I have phoned a number of the national team players and they are just as sad as I am at the moment”. Khune though was not too concerned at the moment about maintaining his own place in the team and added, “right now my concern is how the national team regroups and goes forward from here when it comes to my own place in the team I feel that the with Jaro and Pitso staying on they will keep the new coach up to speed about our progress. I am really concerned about the fans and the team as it means that a lot more work now needs to be done”.

Parreira Human Face

The much traveled Parreira let it be known at the press conference that there comes a time in life when football needs to give way for family matters and explained by saying, “since 1967 when I took up a coaching job in Ghana football has been everything for me and for 40 years, I have kept a balance between professional life and personal life. Right now I cannot keeps this balance my wife needs me and I need to be with my family, I would like to thank Safa and the country and all the people for being understanding. I have told the association that I will remain in a technical advisory role with the national team, and will help find a coach who will keep the vision”.