Amakhosi representatives in the Bafana Bafana squad Itumeleng Khune and Siphiwe Tshabalala learnt on Wednesday that tagging along with them to Ghana for the 26th Africa Cup of Nations will be Chiefs Webmaster Yusuf Muhammad. Muhammad will be based with the two Chiefs players along with the rest of the South African squad in the town of Tamale in northern Ghana where Bafana Bafana will play two of their Group D matches on the 23 and 27th January against Angola and Tunisia respectively.

Having a journalist with the two Chiefs players will mean that kaizerchiefs.com and The Amakhosi magazine will allow for Chiefs fans to learn first hand about how things went in the Bafana camp with Chiefs two representatives, as Bafana Bafana build for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and go in search of their second continental crown.

Widening the coverage

With Khune making his first appearance at a major international tournament, Chiefs Brand Manager Dara Carroll believes that having someone imbedded with him and Siphiwe Tshabalala is a fantastic opportunity for the Chiefs players to share first hand their day to day experiences and challenges in Ghana.

Carroll said “I think that it is wonderful that we were given the opportunity to send Yusuf to Ghana to be with the guys as it gives us the opportunity to be able to communicate with our fans exactly what is going on over there.

"As an organization it is important that we get to track our players progress when they are on international duty, this way we can now get a 'blow by blow' and well documented account of what we hope will be one of many more journey’s for both Itumeleng and Siphiwe to international football tournaments”.

Ertugral good move

Muhsin Ertugral has described the move to cover in particular the Chiefs player at the Africa Cup of Nations as an excellent one. Ertugral said “As a coach I have always felt that it is important for me to know what is going on with my players when they are on international duty. I like to be kept informed as to whether or not they have picked up any injuries if they have any other problems. So having someone there with them will be very beneficial for us as a team, knowing of their day to day activities will allow for me to be able to prepare an effective training programme for them when they return to South Africa”.

Diarize this

The Chiefs pair who are with the Bafana squad will communicate their experiences back to South Africa via a daily diary which will be put up on the website, and in addition their journey to Ghana will be featured in depth in the February issue of Amakhosi Magazine.

Chiefs midfielder Siphiwe Tshabalala has welcomed the fact that he will have someone from the Club alongside him in Ghana adding, “going to the Africa Cup of Nations is a big thing in the life of a footballer. I was at the last one in Egypt and I wished then that I had someone who could have helped me capture the journey with me, away from the matches one gets the opportunity to see new place and experience a new culture and would always like to share these with the fans back home”.