Mweene’s future role at Sundowns revealed

As the age-old saying goes, one man’s poison is another’s treasure. This is the tale of Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene, who took over as Downs’ fourth technical team member in the absence of goalkeeper coach Wendell Robinson.

The seasoned goalie trainer had to watch the DStv Premiership win against Orlando Pirates from the stands as the defending champions beat the Buccaneers 1-0 this past Saturday.

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Robinson was flashed with a red card in Sundowns’ win against Sekhukhune, alongside midfielder Marcelo Allende, and the duo will also sit it out against Richards Bay in the Nedbank Cup on Tuesday.

Mweene, who has been with the Brazilians for about a decade now, winning multiple trophies, was the makeshift goalkeeper coach and is expected to occupy the same role when Sundowns host the Natal Rich Boys.

“He is doubling up into a role that we envisage for him for the long term. He is going to do his coaching badges very soon as he has just applied for that,” said Sundowns co-head coach Rulani Mokwena.

“It is a natural progression in life, when one transitions from playing into coaching. Kennedy has a keen interest in coaching and he has been an incredible servant for this football club.

“He has experience in African football and he has won the Caf Champions League and the Africa Cup of Nations. There are incredible benefits for the club to inherit in a coaching capacity.

“It was fast tracked a bit by the red card to coach Wendell, but the universe works in incredible ways even when we are not ready. He did very well against Pirates and congratulations to him for having his first match as a goalkeeper coach in an interim capacity.I want to thank him for his contribution and the role that he played,” said Mokwena.

The 38-year-old Mweene is still registered as a player and is yet to make a single appearance this season, with coach Mokwena preferring Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams, who only missed two games this season.

Word has it that the former Zambia national team goalkeeper is going to hang up his gloves at the end of the season and direct his focus on coaching.