Kwanele Kopo's long wait for a PSL head coach seat finally paying off

This comes after more than two decades since he started working with South Africa’s most successful professional football head coach Pitso Mosimane.

READ: AmaZulu's gateway to return to CAF inter-club competitions

Kopo, who hails from Uitenhage, just outside Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape, was appointed as a coach at Chippa alongside his protégé Thabo September and they have hit the ground running.

 One of the highly qualified coaches in the PSL, Kopo says patience has been his greatest strength.

''It's been a bit emotional, having served under all these good coaches, one had to keep the faith and had to keep working hard,'' said Kopo. 

Kopo was one of Mosimane’s two assistant coaches alongside the late Jomo Cosmos and SuperSport United great Thomas “Chincha” Madigage when they started in the early 2000s.

 Having established himself in the youth structures and transformed United’s academy into arguably the best in the country, the former Pretoria Callies head coach says it was not easy to see himself overlooked for some top jobs over the years. 

''I am very thankful to Chippa United. There's a lot of coaches who have the experience and qualifications like myself. 

“I have worked at Youth level up to Bafana, I have been to the World Cup and the Olympics. When one talks of experience it does not get better than that,'' added Kopo.

The Chillie Boys boss Siviwe “Chippa” Mpengesi had long wanted to see Kopo returning home to the Eastern Cape, approximately three decades since he left his home province to study Law at Wits University.

 It was at Wits, where the 48 year-old started to take the coaching call seriously and was appointed as a Varsity team head coach and later national university team men’s coach. He sees this project as a process that they can build to long-term success.

''I hope that I can really give to South African football at professional level as I have done at Youth level, and believe I am very capable,'' concluded Kopo.

The former South African U17, U20, and U23 assistant coach has now had a good start at the Chillie Boys, together with his former assistant coach at the Amatsatsansa a Pitori reserve team September. 

They have won three, drawn two and lost only one of their first five matches at the club in all competitions. In the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals, they have since been pitted against another tough opponent in TS Galaxy and Kopo knows that the trip to Mbombela stadium will be a tricky affair.