Santana out, Parreira tipped to return
Brad Morgan
20 October 2009
Joel Santana has stepped down as coach of South Africa's national football team, Bafana Bafana, just eight months before the 2010 Fifa World Cup™. Fellow Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira, who resigned from the post due to family problems in 2008, is widely tipped to return.
The South African Football Association (Ssfa) said in a statement on Monday that the decision had been a mutual one, adding Jairo Leal and Pitso Mosimane would remain as caretaker coaches until a meeting of Safa's executive committee on Friday.
The retention of Leal, for a long time Parreira's right-hand man, is one reason why many believe Parreira will return to the hot seat.
Safa requirement
Safa officials have also said that they want the replacement to be someone with an understanding of South African football, as well as someone with World Cup experience. That limits the options greatly, but includes Parreira.
Santana's departure comes after Bafana Bafana lost 1-0 to Norway and 1-0 to Iceland in Europe recently, taking South Africa's recent record to eight losses in nine matches.
Following the defeats, South Africa's world ranking fell to a 16-year low of 85th.
Earlier this year, Santana led Bafana Bafana to a South African record five wins in succession. Those wins were over Cameroon, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Malawi and Zambia. The victories over Cameroon and Ghana came over teams playing at less than full strength.
Tail spin
Later, when facing world-class opposition – the kinds of teams that will be contesting the 2010 World Cup in South Africa – Bafana Bafana went into a tail-spin, suffering defeat after defeat.
The greatest criticism of the team was not its losses, but the manner of its losses. Many people felt that South Africa was too negative in its approach. Four goals in eight matches supported this contention.
Altogether, under Santana, Bafana Bafana won 10 matches, lost 14 and drew three.
Parreira, the man expected to succeed Santana, quit Bafana Bafana in 2008 to be with his ill wife. He took over as coach of Fluminense back in Brazil, but was sacked in July after only four months on the job.
Parreira's comments
Recent comments by Parreira suggest that the way has already been cleared for his return as coach of South Africa. Last week, he told the Brazilian press: "When I left last year, it was because of family problems. But all those are history now.
"I will comment further once I have received an official invitation from the federation (Safa)," he added.
Parreira led Kuwait at the 1982 World Cup, the United Arab Emirates at the 1990 World Cup, Brazil to the World Cup title in 1994, Saudi Arabia at the 1998 World Cup, and Brazil at the 2006 World Cup.
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