Mamelodi Sundowns have bolstered their technical team and football department with the appointment of Michael Loftman as set play coach.
Loftman holds UEFA coaching qualifications and is also a former coach of Venda Football Academy.
The 33-year-old England-born coach has also worked for Lusaka Dynamos and served as performance analyst for Egypt during the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, where he worked with Carlos Queiroz and Roger de Sa.
When he started out coaching, he did his apprenticeship at clubs including Watford and Tottenham Hostpur.
According to the Sundowns announcement, the appointment was made in an effort to raise the bar, including appointing a specialist to their technical team.
“All elite sport is about gaining small margins. Replays and restarts are a significant part of modern-day football and are even more crucial when playing in the CAF Champions League,” reads a statement from the Brazilians.
“Loftman, who has held various coaching roles as head coach and development coach, holds a UEFA A licence from the English FA and a sports science and a coaching masters degree from Brunel University.
“In his role, the experienced coach and performance data analyst will work on the pitch and compile analytic data to provide information to improve an important part of the game.”
Sundowns’ sporting director, Flemming Berg, welcomed Michael.
“We are very happy to have Michael and add his competencies to the experienced and highly qualified technical team,” said Berg.
Loftman will travel with Masandawana to Cameroon for their second Group B match against Cotton Sport Garoua.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
