Bafana Bafana legend Steven Pienaar was recently profiled by one of his former clubs, who followed him to his current coaching gig in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
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South African football legend Steven Pienaar was recently followed by an Ajax Amsterdam film crew, with his former club profiling his journey into coaching.
"Schillo" is currently coaching the under-15 age group at Sharjah FC and video shared on Ajax's YouTube channel shares a glimpse of Steven Pienaar the coach in action.
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A glimpse into Pienaar as coach
Former Everton, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax Amsterdam midfielder Steven Pienaar recently connected with his former Dutch employers at his new football home in the Middle-East.
Ajax sent a film crew to the UAE to interview and witness a day in the coaching life of Pienaar at Sharjah FC's youth team structures.
The 41-year-old started his coaching journey at Ajax, working as the assistant manager for his former club's under-18 outfit. The over 20-minute long video covers Pienaar's work life, his new home in Dubai and fun activities that he gets up to with his friends and wife, Awa.
Pienaar went on to reveal the team he sees himself coaching in the future: "My ultimate goal, in five or ten years, by God's grace, is to coach the South African national team."
"When I was a young boy, I dreamt of being captain of the national team and it came true. So now, my dream is to coach them and to be there for my country, and to help them get to the World Cup or Africa Cup of Nations," says Pienaar of his Bafana Bafana coaching aspirations.
Pienaar cuts a stern but reasonable figure when coaching his youngsters and makes his demands as clear as he possibly can.
"I enjoy working with the boys. The intensity has to be 100 percent, their attitude, behaviour, are things I always demand but they can do it their own way," says Pienaar.
"The young boy's spirit you have in you, has to come out on the pitch. Always having fun, wearing a smile on the pitch, that's the feeling you always need to have — that you're free.
After summarising his rise from growing up in Westbury, a suburb in Johannesburg — to breaking through at Ajax Cape Town, then Ajax Amsterdam under Ronald Koeman, to enjoying a successful period in England at Everton and a stint at Tottenham Hotspur, the short film then follows Pienaar encouraging his players to have fun on the pitch.
"Every minute you spend on the pitch, you can improve... so that's what I demand from the boys every time. I was a player like that, I never wanted to lose the ball. So I tell them 'Okay guys, when you give a child candy, they want candy again.' If you have the ball, the opponent will always be running after the ball. I ask them if they like to defend, they answer 'No,' then I say: So you have to keep the ball in your possession," says Pienaar.
In terms of modelling his former coaches, Pienaar sees his coaching philosophy as something similar to what he saw from Ronald Koeman at Ajax and David Moyes at Everton.
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Watch the short Ajax YouTube special on Schillo; "Steven Pienaar - Ajax and the eternal smile":
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