Newly appointed Bafana Bafana head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira’s first task when he arrives sometime next week will be to unite, and restore confidence in, the national side both on and off the pitch.
Parreira said he accepted the fact that after guiding South Africa to the World Cup finals he will make way for a South Africa-born coach.
”That is only natural that South Africans want a local coach to be in charge of their team,” Parreira said in an interview with Brazilian website Globoesport.com.
”I think it is reasonable that the South African Football Association [Safa] will appoint a South African coach for Bafana after the finals in July.
”It is the same in Brazil — that they want a Brazilian to coach their own country. I have no problems with that.”
Parreira, who won the 1994 World Cup with his native Brazil, takes charge of Bafana for the second time after the disastrous 17-month reign by his fellow countryman, Joel Santana, who quit last Monday after a string of shocking results, losing eight of his last nine friendly internationals. The final straw for Safa came when Bafana slumped to 85th in the Fifa world rankings earlier this month.
Many South Africans believe that Parreira’s record with Bafana was nothing to get excited about, but he should be head and shoulders above his predecessor, Santana. The players had huge respect for Parreira during his last stint and that is a good start.
Parreira said the pressure would be similar to that when he coached Brazil in 1993 and won the World Cup in the United States the following year.
He quit as South Africa’s coach in April last year due to his wife’s ill health and recommended Santana to Safa as a possible replacement. It is a move that Parreira must be regretting, now that he has to clean up the mess left behind by his countryman.
But Parreira said he was happy to be back in charge of the country that will host the World Cup next June.
”I decided to accept the challenge because coaching the host nation at the World Cup finals will be special,” said Parreira, who was reappointed by Safa on Friday night.
”There is a lot of work to be done, but the fact that South Africa are the host nation will be a big help in the finals. Home ground is a big advantage in the World Cup. That is another plus and another reason I decided to accept the job. I also know that Bafana fans are passionate and not interested in anything else but playing in the final [next July].”
But he knows that he has to lift the spirits of the players quickly and will get a chance to stamp his mark when Bafana host Japan at the Orlando Stadium on November 14 and Jamaica on November 17 in Bloemfontein. — Sapa