The oil rich gulf nation of Qatar awaits Itumeleng Khune and the national u-23 team, as they prepare to fly off to the small but wealthy gulf state for an eight team international under twenty three friendly tournament due to begin on the 21st of this month. The eight team tournament which will help Amaglug glug coach Steve Komphela prepare his team for their next round of Olympic qualification matches, has South Africa drawn in the same group as the hosts Qatar the United Arab Emirates with Japan rounding off Group A.

Making a return to the team coached by Steve Komphela is Chiefs reserve goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune, who had been unable to participate in a number of camps and friendly games that Amaglug Glug have been involved with in recent times. As he had been out of action since early November with a jaw injury, Khune who resumed full training about a month ago is all fired up for the trip to Qatar.

“I can’t wait for tournament to begin,” said an excited Itumeleng Khune he further added “it has been a while since I last played a game for the under twenty-three’s, I feel that I need the match practise to get back to my best”. The prospect of facing a tough Japanese team is one Khune is looking forward and he is hoping to use the tournament in general to consolidate his place in team. Khune added “ In Qatar we will be playing against teams that play a very different style of football in comparison to most of the African Countries that we usually come up against. It will be good preparation for us ahead of our next round of Olympic qualifying games to play against the likes of Japan and the United Arab Emirates”.

The young Chiefs keeper is equally excited about playing against the host country Qatar and does believe that coming up against the hosts and their fanatical supporters, will go along way towards developing the teams character. “Playing against the host team is always tough because the crowd is against you, they are obviously more suited to the playing conditions. Over the past few months we have played with the u-23 national team in many countries, where the crowd can be really harsh on the visiting team. We have been able to cope with very vocal fans across the continent, I do think that the team will be able to win over the Qatari crowd” concluded Khune.

As Khune prepares to jet off to Doha the capital of Qatar in the next couple of days, he has been given a boost of confidence by Chiefs goalkeeper coach Rainer Dinkelacker, who is sure that Khune will give a good account of himself in Qatar. Dinkelacker said, “we should not doubt whether or not Itumeleng has the ability to do well against the level of competition he can expect to come up against in Qatar. He is a very capable keeper and has shown it in training over and over again, I am expecting him to well over there and I believe he can come back from this tournament having done the country proud”.

Dinkelacker further added “Itumeleng has prepared well for the Qatar tournament we have done some extra training with him, so as to ensure that he goes there with the best of preparation”.

The national under twenty three’s under the guidance of Steve Komphela are expected to depart from Johannesburg next week, the tournament will run from the 21 January and will conclude on the 31st of the month. Amaglug glug will take on their Japanese counterparts in their first game to be played on the 21st January in the Qatari capital Doha.