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Former Bafana Bafana assistant coach and head coach of South Africa’s national U20 men’s team Thabo Senong says he has had an eventful first six months in his job as the FIFA talent coach under the Technical Development Scheme (TDS) programme of Malawian Football Association (FAM).
Senong was appointed as a FIFA talent coach in September last year.
Speaking to SABC Sport on the sidelines of the Engen Knockout Challenge draw for the Gauteng region yesterday, Senong says there’s been progress in various national teams particularly at youth level in Malawi.
"Malawi has been very good, I've just completed six months full time with a programme there. Doing talent ID, talent development, we recruited all our best talent, ranging from 14 to 15, girls and boys into our national centre and we are happy that our under17 have gone all the way to the final,” Senong said.
“Under17 ladies team went all the way to the finals of the COSAFA Cup, we had six players from our academy."
This past weekend, the Malawian U20 team lost 3-0 in the final to Vela Khumalo’s Amajimbos team, during the COSAFA U20 tournament in Region 5 games played in Malawi.
Senong says despite the loss, there’s progress that’s visible in Malawian football.
"And we are happy that the U20 boys now have also gone to the final. So, there's progress because we are trying to get the best talents inside the system and we're trying to give them contact time, training them everyday and also bench marking with other forward thinking footballing nations around the globe, progressive football federations around the continent and also around the globe because you have to benchmark, you can't work in isolation when you develop talent,” he explained.
“You have to know how other countries are approaching it and then you have to bring some trends, you need to fast track science, maybe fast track technology and analysis but also consider the national characteristics of the players that we have in Malawi, respect their skills, their artistry, their natural talents just to make sure that we develop them to make sure that we maximise their strengths."
