Molefi Ntseki was on Saturday announced as head coach of Bafana Bafana following Safa's NEC meeting which took place in Johannesburg.
He takes over from Stuart Baxter, who resigned as head coach of Bafana Bafana after two years in charge.
Ntseki worked with Baxter for two years as his assistant while he also assisted Shakes Mashaba alongside Owen Da Gama and Thabo Senong in the past, and the South African Football Association (Safa) saw the need to give him the job on a permanent basis.
But very few people know who Ntseki really is...
Goal profiles the Bafana Bafana coach and takes a look at his playing and coaching careers over the years.
Early Life
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Ntseki was born in Botshabelo in the Free State province 50 years ago.
He is a teacher by profession, and while he was pursuing his career in the education sector, Ntseki discovered his passion to be a football coach.
After working as a professional teacher for a decade between 1988 and 1998, Ntseki moved into coaching on a permanent basis.
Playing Career
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Ntseki played for Unisaints and Welkom Stars in the early years of his playing career.
As someone who was born in the Free State province, it only made sense that he started his playing career closer to home.
Unisaints and Welkom Stars were at the time the biggest teams in the lower divisions of the province, behind the then-QwaQwa Stars and Bloemfontein Celtic - who were already campaigning in the PSL.
Although Ntseki never got the chance to make it to the professional level, he was a skilled and accomplished player in his own right.
Just like Steve Komphela and many others coming from the Free State province, Ntseki had two professional jobs - playing semi-professional football and being a teacher.
Coaching Career
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In 1998, Ntseki quit teaching and ventured into coaching, and he was given the chance to work at his former club Welkom Stars.
He didat Welkom Stars but he came back stronger to take over the coaching reigns in 2002.
Ntseki resigned a year later to start the Harmony Sports Academy. He was in charge of the academy until 2007 when he was hired as head coach of African Warriors in Qwaqwa.
At the time, African Warriors were campaigning in the National First Division. He was there for two years between 2007 and 2009.
Ntseki then got the job as Serame Letsoaka's assistant at SA U20 team and later served under Macky Chenai and Solly Luvhengo in the same capacity.
He also served as assistant to Shakes Mashaba, who was then South Africa's U23 head coach.
In September 2010, Ntseki joined Bloemfontein Celtic as an assistant coach and he worked at the club until 2014 when he was appointed as head coach of Amajimbos (SA U17).
Achievements
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A year after his appointment as head coach of Amajimbos, Ntseki guided the team to the 2015 Fifa World Cup in Chile.
Ntseki's team had the likes of Wiseman Meyiwa, Keanu Cupido, Reeve Frosler, and Kobamelo Kodisang.
He also helped the SA U17 team qualify for the 2015 Afcon tournament, where they finished as runners-up after losing to Mali - which was their ticket to Chile.
In 2016, Amajimbos qualified for the Cosafa Cup tournament and they lost 3-1 on penalties to Namibia in the final.
Ntseki's team again reached the Cosafa Cup final in 2018, but then again, they lost 1-0 to Angola to finish as runners-up.
But before then, Ntseki was elevated to the assistant coaching position at the senior national team to work hand-in-hand with Baxter and Thabo Senong.
He was then Baxter's right-hand man during Bafana's qualifying campaign, and again at Afcon 2019 finals in Egypt, where Bafana reached the quarter-final stage.