Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira is expected to announce his resignation at a press conference in Johannesburg on Monday, and speculation is rife about a possible successor, with big names such as Jose Mourinho and former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson in the mix.
Parreira, who guided Brazil to the World Cup in 1994 and is one of the most respected coaches in the world, was specifically hired 16 months ago to prepare Bafana for the 2010 version of the tournament in South Africa at what was an astronomical and controversial salary package of R1,8-million a month.
He had an indifferent start to his tenure when Bafana were eliminated in the first round of the African Cup of Nations in Ghana earlier this year.
However, recently Parreira seemed to have moulded the team into a more effective combination, with South Africa beating 26th world-ranked Paraguay 3-0 in their most recent game.
Parreira has cited personal reasons and the separation from his family for his decision.
A replacement will need to be sought urgently — particularly as the new coach, or coaches, at the helm face a baptism of fire against African powerhouse Nigeria in an away 2010 Nations Cup qualifying game in five weeks’ time.
Parreira, it is believed, has made numerous alternative suggestions to the South African Football Association (Safa) concerning his successor — one of them being that his chief assistant, fellow Brazilian Jairo Leal, and his second assistant, Pitso Mosimane, take over on a caretaker basis, if not permanently.
The speculation has also roped in such top coaches as Portugal and former Brazil coach Luis Felipe Scolari, former Chelsea coach Mourinho and Manchester City and former England coach Eriksson.
Brazilian coaches who have supposedly been recommended by Parreira include Joel Santana, Leal, Emerson Leao, Muricy Ramalho and Renato Gaucho.
Also supposedly in the running is veteran Brazilian maestro Mario Zagallo, who has the unique record of being associated with a World Cup-winning team on three occasions — as coach, player and technical assistant.
But Zagallo is now 77 years old and, at best, might only be considered as a technical director to oversee the work of others.
Whatever the outcome of the coaching lottery, it is likely that the harassed and hard-pressed Safa will first consider an overseas coach with some sort of international reputation before turning to the local market.
Also, there are doubts Safa will again be prepared to offer a replacement R1,8-million a month — which has stretched its budget to its limits. — Sapa