A former AmaZulu coach making waves abroad has pointed to the success of Jose Riveiro to encourage South African players and tacticians to consider opportunities in countries like Finland and Estonia.
Thabiso Makhetha, known for his time with Usuthu’s reserve team and as a performance analyst at Uthongathi FC, is urging local football professionals not to limit themselves to the more prominent European leagues.
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Born in Durban, the 35-year-old is making his name abroad, currently an assistant coach at Estonian second division club Nomme United, who are currently at the top of the Esiliiga A table.
Makhetha recently played a key role in helping Lithuanian side FK Riteriai secure promotion to the country’s top tier, the A Lyga, after clinching the 2024 Topsport Pirma Lyga title.
He also previously served as an assistant coach at the New Orleans Jesters in the USA’s National Premier Soccer League.
Making an example of Riveiro, who came as an unknown from Finland to win trophies with Orlando Pirates, Makhetha urged SA coaches and players to expand their horizons, even if it means starting out in what are considered smaller footballing nations.
"I think for sure South African players can survive in Estonian football, SA has tons and tons of talent, and it can pave their way to big teams because we do send players to Germany, England, and other big teams," Makhetha told KickOff.
"The pressure here is not so big yet because it's a small country with professional football; it doesn't have as many spectators as the other bigger leagues in Europe, but it's got the pressures of professional football.
"According to me, our South African players and coaches should consider these leagues because they are gateway leagues, it's a good place to start, and then push on. I am also still learning in this industry," he explained.
"If you look at a coach like Jose Riveiro, who was just at Pirates, he was coaching in Finland for three seasons, and Finland is just next door to Estonia; it's a similar market. This tells us it is possible to get a bigger team from these leagues.
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"So what I would say to the upcoming coaches, as I said, this is a gateway league, but there are a lot of qualified coaches. I mean, my head coach is completing his European UEFA Pro licence," he added.
"There are lots of UEFA Pro licence coaches in the league. So the standard is good. The standard is high, and every coach has to start somewhere to earn the opportunities to coach in bigger leagues."
