Over the past weekend Itumeleng Khune managed to keep another clean sheet with a well executed performance against Bloemfontein Celtic in the Telkom Cup semifinal, which was played in Mmabatho in the North West Province around 140 km’s away from his home town of Ventersdorp also located in the North West Province and South of Mmabatho.

While the 20-year-old goalkeeper continues to receive rave reviews he will have to put up the performance of his life on Wednesday evening when Chiefs take to the field against the current defending PSL Champions Mamelodi Sundowns.

With either team not presently lighting up the league this season as their fans would have liked them to, as they have produced a number of inconsistent performances in recent times, both sets of coaches will be looking at their young and experienced players to come up with some big performances at the ABSA Stadium Wednesday.

With such a huge game in the offing, Khune has received praise and words of encouragement from a very unlikely source. While Khune stood on opposite ends from a former Chiefs goalkeeper a week ago in the form of Aubrey Mathibe when The Amakhosi played Moroka Swallows, it will be the same on Wednesday as former Chiefs keeper Brian Baloyi will be between the posts for the Brazilians in Durban.

On Monday The former Bafana Bafana captain spoke to kaizerchiefs.com of his admiration of the talented Khune.

Good Guidance

Baloyi who spent thirteen years at Chiefs going through the youth ranks before making his professional debut in the old National Soccer League in 1993, and played close to 400 matches for The Amakhosi, believes that Khune has laid the foundation for himself taking his career the distance.

Baloyi said of Khune “we have really seen some outstanding goalkeeping from this young boy, I think the way he has burst on to the scene and done his job between the sticks has been really commendable”.

According to Baloyi with the right assistance Khune could soon become the country's number one shot stopper.

Baloyi spoke on and said. “With the correct guidance on the pitch and away from it coupled with good sound training and a disciplined lifestyle Khune has a bright road ahead of him, so far the early indications are that he is not getting carried away with his achievements and that is an excellent indicator to show that he can he is a mature young man”.

Baloyi wish

When Baloyi joined The Amakhosi way back in 1991 he was a budding young keeper just like Khune. A lot of the challenges Khune went through over the past couple of months before eventually breaking into the Chiefs first team were similar to what Brian had undergone early on in his career at the Amakhosi.

While Baloyi has won numerous titles in South African domestic football, he was unable to secure a dream move to Europe, he does believe though that Khune could land up there sooner rather than later.

As Baloyi says “if there was one thing I did not manage to get right in my professional career it was securing a deal to play in Europe. My one wish for Itumeleng given his abundant talents, is that he manages to get to play in Europe and some day hopefully the European Champions League.

Right now I would say that he is one of South African footballs greatest assets, and if the country wants the best out of him we need to have him playing in competitions like the European Champions League and also in a good strong domestic league in Europe”.

Chiefs on Wednesday

Khune aside, Baloyi will be facing up to The Amakhosi on Wednesday at the ABSA Stadium. Kaizerchiefs.com spoke to the 33-year-old keeper about his emotions ahead of Wednesday’s clash to which he commented. “Playing against Chiefs is never easy for me given the fact that I spent over a decade at the team, so coming up against them is always an emotional affair as I still have many friends at the club. With the way we beat them last season I know that they will be looking to take some sort of revenge, so we are expecting a rough and tough game on Wednesday evening”.