Battle-hardened former Kaizer Chiefs defender Valery Nahayo has received his first national team appointment as he makes inroads into a career in coaching.
Nahayo won the MTN8 and the Telkom KnockOut twice during the three years that he spent at Kaizer Chiefs (2008-11) before moving to Belgian club KAA Gent.
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He had joined Chiefs from Jomo Cosmos where he was captain and also had a brief stint with Mpumalanga Black Aces before returning to Belgium where he has remained resident while pursuing his coaching badges.
Almost a decade since his last appearance for the national team of Burundi, Nahayo has found his way back as the video analyst doubling up as second assistant coach for the Great Lakes Region country.
Nahayo will serve in a technical team headed by Etienne Ndayiragije.
"I have been working with him (Nahayo) since my time in the national team of Tanzania and has helped me a lot with analysing videos and following opponents," Ndayiragije tells KickOff.
"He is well informed with preparation work so when I got here, I felt it is good to bring him here as a legend of this country.
"All the players here respect so I felt it is better to bring him closer to them.
"Football involves a lot of technology nowadays.
"He is based in Europe, and we have a lot of players there that he can follow from close for us.
"I'm charge of all national teams so I'm looking ahead to getting him to be a head coach of one of the junior national teams," says Ndayiragije.
His duties will include providing coaches and players with data collected from video footage, which is now a global trend.
Nahayo – who turns 40 next year – captained Burundi through his playing days and remains highly regarded by the Football Federation of Burundi.
His appointment means Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana will have a former Chiefs man as his mentor when he reports for national team duty later this month.
Though Bimenyimana is yet to score in seven games this year his seven goals have kept him in the top scorers list.
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