Peter Hyballa is happy with the quality of his Sekhukhune United squad ahead of the start of the 2024/25 Betway Premiership season.
The German former NEC Nijmegen and Wisla Krakow manager joined the South African club this season after finding himself without a team after his exit from NAC Breda in September 2023.
He was appointed as a replacement for Lehlohonolo Seema, who led the club to a massively impressive fourth place last season.
Despite knowing little about the state of the local league, Hyballa has been impressed and says there is little difference between Europe and the South African top flight.
He said in the Sowetan: “Four weeks here and I like it because I have known Africa for many years. I was in Namibia where I was involved in football for kids but it was 20 years ago.
“While I was in Europe, I got a call from Sekhukhune and it’s a little bit different [from Europe] but the gap is not so big. I like the team, I must say they work very hard. We are training twice [a day].”
Hyballa revealed that he chose Sekhukhune over several other offers.
“I didn’t have a job in Europe and I also had talks with other clubs there. I like competition and I like challenges,” he said.
“And I like South Africa…in the last 15 months, I was in Stellenbosch, and I’ve been to Cape Town before. So, I like this country and I’m an Africa supporter… also, the SA league is one of the best.”
The coach concluded: “We have a very good squad. We have experienced players. We have good, young ambitious players, we’ve a good mix. We have a good team.
“Now my job is to get results and play attractive football. I like counter-pressing and I was for 15 years the U-19 coach for [Bundesliga team] Dortmund, and Jurgen Klopp was the first-team coach who inspired me a lot.”
⚽️ 𝕄𝕋ℕ 𝟠 𝕃𝔸𝕌ℕℂℍ ⚽️
— SABC Sport (@SABC_Sport) July 31, 2024
Sekhukhune United head coach Peter Hyballa is looking forward to the #MTN8! #SABCSportFootball #WafaWafa pic.twitter.com/VS4OlTcNYe
