Lala ngoxolo, Professor, we'll never forget you

Former Bafana Bafana coach Ted Dumitru died yesterday after collapsing following a heart attack at the Eastgate shopping mall.

This was confirmed by the SA Football Association which said the legendary and much decorated former Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs coach had died of a sudden heart attack. He was 76.

Safa's technical committee head and friend Natasha Tsichlas said Dumitru had not been well.

"He was not well since Wednesday. He was suffering from a headache and feeling a bit dizzy," Tsichlas said. "This morning [yesterday] he was not feeling well. But he went to Woolworths [at Eastgate Mall] to shop. He collapsed. Paramedics were called but they could not revive him."

Dumitru last worked as a technical director for Sundowns, where he won back-to-back Premier Soccer League titles in 1997-1998 and 1998-1999. He repeated that feat with Kaizer Chiefs in 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, for a total of four league titles, a number that has been equalled only by Gordon Igesund.

He coached Bafana at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, where they failed to win a game and exited in the first round.

"Today he was supposed to give a youth coaching seminar.It's a great loss. He was nicknamed 'The Professor' because of his great knowledge," Tsichlas said.

Romanian-born Dumitru, whose first name was Theodore, moved to South Africa via coaching clubs in Turkey and the US, then the national teams of Zambia and Swaziland.