Of all the commendations that new Bafana Bafana coach Joel Santana has to his credit is that he has coached the world’s best-supported team. He will have to accentuate this point as he has little else, other than the endorsement of his predecessor, to show why he should be entrusted with the job.
Santana is leaving Brazilian powerhouse Flamengo to spearhead South Africa’s quest for footballing dignity, which starts with qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola in 2010. As hosts, South Africa automatically qualify for the 2010 World Cup but will have to keep the tradition of the host country always qualifying for the next round.
According to the well-regarded Mundo Estranho magazine, Flamengo has the biggest club fan base in the world, ahead of Mexican teams Chivas and America.
The five-time Brazilian champions have 32,6-million fans. Chivas has 30,8-million supporters and America 26,4-million.
The survey did not take into consideration multinational fans, ”like Chinese people who support Manchester United,” said Mundo Estranho.
Although this might appear as useful for a Trivial Pursuit exercise, it also means that he comes to the job having developed the required thick skin to deal with a nation that has millions of coaches never too shy to offer their opinion. As his detractors have pointed out, Santana has never coached a national team. He has also never achieved any significant success outside of Rio de Janeiro.
Though Santana’s CV reflects that he led Vasco da Gama to the national title in 2000, reports from Brazil show that it was Oswaldo de Oliveira who did the spade work, only to fall out with the club management ahead of the last match of the season. Santana was then presented with the coaching equivalent of a simple tap-in.
According to Mail & Guardian sources in Brazil, Santana’s greatest achievements have been with Rio de Janeiro clubs. Elsewhere he suffers. ”He trained Internaçional [from Rio Grande do Sul] in 2004. It was terrible. When he came in, Inter were fifth and went on to finish around 20th,” said Rodrigo Oliveira, a sports journalist with a Rio Grande do Sul radio station.
Though it is common to use the word ”crisis” in reference to the South African Football Association, it appears even Morgan Tsvangirai would agree that this might be one occasion where things have been overstated.
There is little any organisation could have done when its most trusted lieutenant announced that his spouse was ill and therefore he had to return home to be closer to her.
It is fair to ask whether employing a new coach 25 months before the start of the World Cup (in June 2010) is the best decision to make. Ditto whether continuity could have been best served by allowing Parreira’s assistants, Pitso Mosimane and Jairo Leal, to take over the reins, but it must be borne in mind that Parreira knows the three — his two assistants and his recommended replacement — best. He is qualified to say whether the two were ready for the task ahead and whether Santana has what it takes. He has spoken his mind. Everything else is speculation.