Head coach interview: Vela Khumalo

In this two-part interview, Khumalo delves into his role at the South African Football Association (SAFA) and the strategic focus of their inaugural training camp. 

Part 1: Talent identification and national football philosophy 

In the opening section of the interview, Vela Khumalo, who serves as head coach of the recently created South Africa U-15 men’s national team, provides an insight into his current role at the South African Football Association (SAFA), where he has previously been in charge of the U-17 and U-20 sides.Khumalo discusses the talent identification process involved in selecting players for the U-15 team, highlighting how SAFA has a presence in all of the country’s regions thanks to its comprehensive scouting network. He goes on to explain that the new age group has been created in an effort to ensure that players are ready to compete at future editions of the FIFA U-17 World Cup™ and are familiar with the national-team philosophy at an early stage in their careers.

Khumalo comments that the main aim of the team’s first training camp is to instil the South African playing philosophy, while stating that the week-long get-together also provides a further opportunity for players to be assessed. He explains that the focus of the first training session is on defensive organisation and principles related to defending in both 1v1 scenarios and as a unit. The experienced tactician closes the first part of the interview by talking about the country’s footballing philosophy and the player’s ability to take on their opponent while being purposeful in possession.

Part 2: Balancing Individual skills and collective play in youth development

In the second part of the interview, Khumalo underlines that a player’s technical ability is a key consideration in the talent identification process. While acknowledging the natural ability of South African youth players, Khumalo stresses that they need to be coached to ensure that they are effective in possession. When asked whether he places greater emphasis on the individual or the collective, the coach notes that the individual feeds into the collective, before going on to comment on how one of the exercises in the first training session homes in on both aspects. Khumalo rounds off the interview by explaining why he encouraged his charges to shoot from distance during the first session, referring to South African players’ tendency to want to “walk the ball into the net”.