Andrew Muchineripi Analysis
The appointment of a new national coach and a four-year plan leading to the 2002 World Cup must be the immediate priorities of the South African Football Association (Safa).
Never again must the pride of the nation have three coaches in four months and never again must preparations be so chaotic as to suggest they were planned by our opponents.
That Bafana Bafana reached the African Nations Cup final and held Denmark and Saudi Arabia at France 98 leaves one wondering what might have been achieved had some kind of normality existed.
If the rumour machine is to be believed, Safa are looking at a foreigner to succeed Frenchman Philippe Troussier, with sacked Saudi Arabia coach Carlos Alberto Parreira among names being mentioned. Bora Milutinovic, the unkempt Yugoslav who has guided Nigeria into the second round of the World Cup, is also under consideration for a post filled so controversially by Troussier for five months.
That there were strong anti-foreigner sentiments prevailing among South African supporters this week is not surprising given the few highs and many lows of life under the White Witchdoctor.
Troussier promised much more than he delivered and in the end even the media sycophants who had exuded so much energy defending him began to stab the Frenchman in the back. I do not share the view that local is lekker and foreign is bad because there are good local coaches like Jomo Sono, Trott Moloto and Gordon Igesund and there are good foreign coaches to numerous to mention.
Supporters of local talent will point to the success of Bafana Bafana under Clive Barker and Sono with first and second place in successive African Nations Cup tournaments and World Cup qualification.
Critics of foreign coaches will point to the humiliating away losses to Zambia and Mexico under Peruvian Augusto Palacios and the failure of Troussier to win even one match.
More is the pity because the dream team would probably be a combination of local and foreign talent with the coach coming from South Africa and the technical adviser from abroad. The coach must be in overall charge of selection and tactics while his adviser is charged with producing technically competent footballers.
What, you may ask, do I mean by technically competent? I mean, among other things, players who will produce a variety of set- piece routines that pose a genuine threat to opponents.
Was I alone in feeling no sense of anticipation when Bafana Bafana were awarded free kicks or corners? We were largely clueless with brute force, and ignorance was the order of the day.
The technical adviser must also discover why strikers like Jerry Sikhosana fire so many shots so far off target and why Pierre Issa is prone to conceding own goals and penalties.
Safa must make the right decisions quickly or the same sad stories heard this week will be replayed in Tokyo and Seoul four years hence.