Former Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said in an interview published on Thursday that he expects to be named as new coach of South Africa, hosts of the 2010 World Cup.
The 63-year-old made the revelation to Thursday’s Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper, a day after he resigned from his post with Brazil.
Brazil had a disappointing World Cup campaign in Germany, going out at the quarterfinal stage to France despite starting the tournament as favourites.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Parreira, whose future with Brazil was uncertain after the World Cup in Germany, had re-emerged as an odds-on favourite to be the next coach of Bafana Bafana.
It was reported that in a long and heated meeting held at the Johannesburg International airport Holiday Inn, a venue frequently used for formal discussions of the South African Football Association (Safa), the body’s executive finally mandated technical committee head Sturu Pasiya to officially offer Parreira the post of manager position of the national team.
This will be the second time the Brazilian is offered the position. He was first approached for the job before the start of the World Cup. Indications were that he was interested but had refused to enter into any contractual negotiations until after the end of the month-long event.
”We have told Sturu that when he comes back to us again he must recommend the appointment of [Parreira]. We have also told Sturu to try and negotiate a reasonable package and we will try our best to meet his requirements,” said an executive committee member, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The 1994 World Cup-winning coach fell out of favour with Safa for a while following rumours that emerged after Brazil’s elimination by France at the quarterfinal stage in Germany. It was believed that he had failed to arbitrate satisfactorily on the disharmony within the Brazil camp between the retiring older players and the new ones.
Many pundits, who say the disorder in the camp had been going on for more than two months leading up to the tournament, believe that this led to the ultimate downfall of the team in the finals.
As a result, there are concerns as to whether the 57-year-old coach can deal with similar sorts of problems within the South African game. However, highly placed sources within the executive say his experience, and the fact that he is a winner of the World Cup — a key requisite for the job — makes him again the preferred candidate.