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In a desperate bid to increase their chance of victory at the impending FIFA 2010 World Cup, the South African FA has startled the football fraternity by replacing Brazilian coach Joel Santana with compatriot Carlos Alberto Parreira.
With time ticking fast for the World Cup 2010, South Africa seems to be in the preparation over drive to save country’s honor. No wonder, the disastrous reign of Brazilian coach Joel Santana has been brought to an abrupt end. More surprising is the appointment of compatriot Carlos Alberto Parreira, the Brazilian World Cup winning coach.
The surprise announcement was made by the president of the South African FA (SAFA), Kirsten Nematandani, at a press conference following a lengthy SAFA National Executive meeting held at the OR Tambo Airport. Rumors are rife that SAFA’s decision to reappoint Parreira, and not Hunt was influenced by FIFA, who are concerned about the current state of the 2010 host nation’s senior side.
SAFA’s decision to reappoint the man who led his country to their fourth World Cup title in 1994 has sparked a new round of controversies centered on selecting a “foreign” coach instead of a local one.
| Joel Santana | Alberto Parreira | Gavin Hunt |
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Africa has faced a run of eight defeats in nine matches under Santana, and after such a drubbing, the football fraternity in the country were strongly vouching for an African coach for Bafana Bafana. Former African coach Clive Barker strongly recommended Gavin Hunt as the local man to guide the African soccer team.
“SAFA might think Parreira gives us the best opportunity to do well next year but I wouldn’t agree,” said Clive Barker, perhaps the best man to judge having led the country to African Nations Cup glory in 1996.
Considering the team’s low morale after continuous defeats, Bafana Bafana needs a man who can revive their confidence and gear them up for the big action.
“The key to international management is being able to motivate the players that you are working with and Gavin is a master of that,” Barker added.
To appease the enraged fans, SAFA is most likely to bring Hunt into the African camp as an assistant in a move that is meant to groom him to take over the reins as the coach after the World Cup.
Clarifying his selection, the newly appointed South Africa head coach Parreira has said that he accepts the fact that after guiding Bafana Bafana to the World Cup finals he will make way for a locally born coach.
“That is only natural that South Africans want a local coach to be in charge of their team,” Parreira said in an interview with Brazilian website Globoesport.com.
As for now, Bafana Bafana are stuck with an all new coach, and with only eight months left for the football gala, getting used to newer ways of grooming and delivering victories would be a tough race against time. How Parreira and the team would fare at the World Cup 2010, only time would tell.
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