Seven years ago when the South African Football Association (Safa) first flirted with the idea of acquiring the services of Carlos Alberto Parreira, the renowned Brazilian coach was delayed by custom officials at Johannesburg International airport for somewhere between an hour and 90 minutes.
”No problems this time,” said the smiling Bafana coach-in-waiting on Friday.
Instead, he was accorded treatment fit for a king, while attending a Bafana practice for the African Nations Cup qualifier against the Congo at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
The R1,8-million-a-month man was whisked away from the airport and then went to the FNB Stadium to meet the Bafana players and shake hands with each of them.
He was driven on to the pitch in a manner appropriate for a president and left the same way he had arrived, while Safa security went about implementing the strict instruction that Parreira could not discuss soccer matters with the media until Tuesday.
Before then, he will attend the Bafana game on Saturday and the South African Under-23 Olympic qualifier against Namibia in Potchefstroom on Sunday — both only as an observer as he becomes acquainted with the intricacies of South African soccer.
He will also complete the technicalities of his contract with Safa before facing the media in what should be a revealing session on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, rumours will be rife about every movement he makes and every last cent he is paid.
And, as a predecessor of Parreira, Carlos Queiroz aptly put the matter in a nutshell. ”There are two worlds. There is the real world. And there is the world of media speculation.” — Sapa