Santana aims for 2010 excellence
20 May 2008
New Bafana Bafana coach Joel Santana says he is on a mission to ensure South Africa's success in the 2010 Fifa World Cup. All it needs, says Santana, is faith and courage from the team - and, he might have added, the country.
Addressing the South African media for the first time through an interpreter in Johannesburg on Monday, Santana said: "I want to say to those who do not know me that you will get to know me, but not through words - through actions with honesty and discipline.
"This is a very important day in my career," he added, "not only professionally, but it is a very emotional day for me. We have come here on a difficult mission, but it is not impossible for those who have the courage and faith to go forward.
'Perform excellently in 2010'
"We did not come here on an adventure, but we came here with the great deal of honour to perform excellently in 2010. This will only be possible if we work together as I cannot do anything by myself," he explained.
"My entire life has been dedicated to football," Santana said.
He has known former Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira for more than 20 years, added Santana, and he believes that Parreira would not have given him his blessing if he didn't have faith and confidence in him.
"Mr Parreira knows my life and the type of person that I am and would not have suggested me for any coach if he did not have faith or confidence in me.
Ex-player
"I am not a coach who learned football out of the book, I'm also an ex-player. I have left my country to commit myself to a course, and I will continue to work with the two current assistants who share my same football philosophy," said Santana.
Santana takes over the Bafana Bafana hot seat just two years before South Africa hosts the 2010 Fifa World Cup after former coach Carlos Alberto Parreira resigned 15 months into his four-year contract to be with his wife, Leila, who has cancer and had undergone surgery.
The timing of his entry as SA's coach cannot be described as favourable. Santana will not be afforded the luxury of any friendlies to assess the players at his disposal. In fact, his debut match will be a tough test against Nigeria in Abuja in an African Cup of Nations qualifier.
Four qualifiers in three weeks
The clash against the Super Eagles is the first of four Nations Cup qualifiers in three weeks, with two matches against Equatorial Guinea and another against Sierra Leone to follow. It will be a case of learning on the job for Santana.
Qualifying for the African Cup of Nations tournament in Angola in 2010 is regarded as crucial for South Africa's World Cup preparations. The continental showpiece takes place in January, with the Fifa World Cup following in June.
For fans it is a time of uncertainty. They are unsure what to expect of the national team, which turned in its most impressive performance under former coach Parreira in his last match in charge, thumping Paraguay 3-0 in Atteridgeville.
Transition
The hopes of South African football fans are for a smooth and seamless transition. They hope the change of coaches will cause a minimum of disruption to the progress Parreira had appeared to make with Bafana Bafana.
Parreira's former assistants, Pitso Mosimane and Jairo Leal, with whom Santana has previously worked in Brazil, have been retained and will help ensure the adaptation to a new coach is not a traumatic change. It shouldn't be one. Parreira, in recommending Santana as his replacement, selected him because he coaches according to similar principles.
The 59-year-old Santana has been a coach for the past 25 years, working with clubs in Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and Brazil.
He has enjoyed great success in the Carioca (Rio de Janiero State Championship), and is the only man to coach each of Rio's big four teams – Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco da Gama and Botafogo – to the title.
SAinfo reporter and BuaNews
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