Doctor Khumalo

Theophilus Doctorson Khumalo (born 26 June 1967) is a former South African professional footballer. Popularly nicknamed Doctor for his tactical acumen, he was a renowned midfielder for Kaizer Chiefs and the South African national team.

Career

Having started playing football in 1984 with Swallows Reserves, Khumalo then went to Kaizer Chiefs, where he initially played for the junior team. His father, Eliakim Khumalo, a renowned player of the 1970s and early 1980s, served as his mentor. Khumalo was promoted to the senior team by coach Ted Dumitru the following year, when he started a game against arch rivals Orlando Pirates.

Khumalo went on to become a star player for Kaizer Chiefs and did not play for any other South African football club, only leaving them for short overseas playing periods – he signed with FIFA agent Marcelo Houseman who first took him to Argentinian club Ferro Carril Oeste<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> for six months in 1995, while in 1996 and 1997 he played for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The high-point of Khumalo's football career was the 1990s; he was part of the Kaizer Chiefs teams that won three South African league championship titles and five knockout trophies and was also voted South African Footballer of the Year in 1992. During his career at the club, he played in a total of 397 league and cup games, scoring 75 goals.

After the re-admission of South Africa to FIFA in 1992, Khumalo was selected to be a member of the South African squad for its first official international match in July of the same year, against Cameroon. South Africa won the match 1–0, due to a penalty scored by Khumalo. He was also a leading member of the winning South African national team at the 1996 African Nations Cup. He also represented South Africa in the 1998 Football World Cup. Throughout his whole international career, he played for South Africa 50 times (twice as captain), scoring nine goals<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> making him the 13th most capped South African footballer.

One of Doctor Khumalo's most memorable games was perhaps the 1996 Mandela Cup match, where South Africa played against Brazil. Phil Masinga scored the first goal from Doctor Khumalo's corner kick. Khumalo then scored the second goal to make the score 2–0 in favour of the South Africans. Unfortunately for Bafana, Brazil came back in the second half, scoring three goals, to win the encounter 3–2.

He retired in 2002 and then in 2004 as a player-coach. Although he was a winning co-coach (with Donald "Ace" Khuse) of Kaizer Chiefs in the 2002–2003 season (guiding the club to a 12-game unbeaten record and earning themselves a joint Coach of the Month PSL award), Khumalo has stated that his aim is to become a football administrator. Since 2004, Khumalo served as a television football commentator and presenter, being named afterwards South African Under-17 national coach.

Khumalo was voted 62nd in the Top 100 Great South Africans in 2004.

Coaching career

He has a SAFA Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 coaching licences, an English Football Association licence which he got in 2005 and a UEFA B licence through the German Football Federation in 2007. He previously worked as head coach for the Kaizer Chiefs Under-17s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Acting career

Khumalo made his film acting debut with the German/South African production Themba.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He plays himself as the coach of the under 21s. The movie is about Themba, a young and ambitious football youth, who is faced with poverty, AIDS and violence, but eventually makes his way on to the South African national team. The film is based on a novel by Lutz van Dijk and premiered at the Berlinale 2010.

Career statistics

International goals

Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Khumalo goal.

List of international goals scored by Doctor Khumalo<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	Template:Dts	Kings Park Stadium, Durban, South Africa	Template:Fb	1–0	1–0	Friendly
2	Template:Dts	Ellis Park, Johannesburg, South Africa	Template:Fb	2–0	2–1	Friendly
3	Template:Dts	Independence Stadium, Lusaka, Zambia	Template:Fb	1–0	1–1	AFCON Qualifier
4	Template:Dts	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, South Africa	Template:Fb	2–0	2–1	Simba Cup
5	Template:Dts	Setsoto Stadium, Maseru, Lesotho	Template:Fb	1–0	3–1	Friendly
6	Template:Dts	Ellis Park, Johannesburg, South Africa	Template:Fb	1–0	1–1	Friendly
7	Template:Dts	FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa	Template:Fb	3–2	3–2	Friendly
8	Template:Dts	FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa	Template:Fb	2–0	2–3	Friendly
9	Template:Dts	Stade de Kégué, Lomé, Togo	Template:Fb	1–0	2–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honors

Individual

• MLS All-Star: 1996<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Doctor KhumaloTemplate:Dead link
• Template:Usurped at Fútbol XXI Template:In lang
• Doctor Khumalo: The Story of a Bafana Legend