Sport

Parreira back in charge of Bafana

Brad Morgan

26 October 2009

Carlos Alberto Parreira has been named to succeed Joel Santana as coach of South Africa's national football team, Bafana Bafana. His appointment means he will complete the job he was originally appointed to do in February 2007: lead South Africa at 2010 Fifa World Cup™.

The South African Football Association (Safa) met on Friday to decide on Santana's replacement, and it took five hours before the announcement was made. Bafana Bafana's three recently appointed assessors – Clive Barker, Jomo Sono, and Gavin Hunt – were opposed to a foreign coach being appointed, but Parreira was ultimately chosen.

Recommended Santana

When he resigned in April 2008 to be with his sick wife, Parreira recommended Santana to Safa, telling the organisation that he and Santana shared the same coaching philosophy.

The timing of Parreira's resignation was unfortunate. Bafana Bafana had just achieved their best result under him in March 2008, overrunning Paraguay – then top of South American World Cup qualifying and ranked 26th in the Fifa World Rankings – by three goals to nil.

It also meant that Santana took over right in the middle of South Africa's 2010 African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, and his first match in charge pitted Bafana Bafana against their nemesis, Nigeria, in Abuja. The home team won 2-0.

Santana's biggest margin of victory came in his second game in charge, when South Africa thrashed Equatorial Guinea 4-1 in Atteridgeville. The problem, however, was that Santana didn't have time to learn about his players, and Bafana's next two games undermined the team's attempts to qualify for Angola 2010.

They went down 1-0 to Sierra Leone in Freetown and then drew goalless against Sierra Leone on home soil. It was only after those three matches that Santana had an opportunity to have a look at his squad in friendly action when they faced Australia in London.

That was followed by the side's final African Cup of Nations qualifier against Nigeria. The Super Eagles again triumphed 2-0.

Optimism

Optimism followed when Bafana Bafana embarked on a winning streak of five matches, defeating Malawi 3-0, Equatorial Guinea 1-0, Ghana 2-1, Cameroon 3-2, and Zambia 1-0, before Chile brought South Africa back to earth with a convincing 2-0 win in Polokwane.

A last-gasp 2-1 victory over Norway in Rustenburg was followed by another big test against Portugal in Lausanne, and again Bafana failed the test, falling 2-0 and making little impression on the Portuguese.

With the Confederations Cup approaching, Bafana managed a 1-0 win over Poland in Johannesburg. They then performed encouragingly in the tournament.

Confederations Cup

After opening matters with a goalless draw against Iraq, Bafana Bafana beat New Zealand 2-0. This was followed by a 2-0 defeat to then world number one Spain. South Africa still qualified for the semi-finals, however, where they faced Brazil.

A high-quality contest was decided three minutes from time when Brazil finally breeched the South African defence from a free kick. Bafana, though, were able to hold their heads high after pushing the Brazilians all the way.

In the playoff for third and fourth, SA faced Spain again. Once more Bafana rose to the challenge, taking the European champions to extra time. They eventually went down 3-2, but the fans were satisfied and felt Santana's men had shown they would be competitive at the 2010 World Cup.

Losing streak

The problem was that the losing continued. Serbia beat Bafana 1-0 in Atteridgeville, Germany won 2-0 in Leverkusen, and a below-strength Ireland won 1-0 in Limerick.

South Africa arrested the losing streak with an unconvincing 1-0 victory over lowly-regarded Madagascar in Kimberley.

Then followed two matches in Europe: against Norway and Iceland. When Bafana lost both matches by one goal to nil it meant they had lost eight of their last nine matches. It also meant the end of the road for Santana who stepped down after meeting with Safa.

Parreira will be leading his fifth country at the World Cup finals. He first took charge of Kuwait at the 1982 World Cup in Spain. In 1990, in Italy, he was coach of the United Arab Emirates. At the next World Cup, in the USA, Parreira led Brazil to the title. He took charge of Saudi Arabia in France in 1998, and was again Brazil's coach in Germany in 2006.

His coaching career began in 1967 with São Cristóvão. Most recently, he was in charge of Fluminense for a fourth time, but was sacked only four months into his tenure.