Football statistics are weighted in Nigeria’s favour at this weekend’s clash between the Super Eagles and Bafana Bafana. Nigeria may be in a renewal process of their own, but one cannot see how a Bafana side with a new coach, with no proven strikers and playing in front of a hostile crowd, will defeat them, writes Percy Zvomuya.
Now is the time for budding Bafana Bafana stars to stand up and be counted as South Africa take on Nigeria in a tough 2010 African Nations Cup qualifier in Abuja on Sunday. Kick-off is at 5pm South African time. There is no Benni McCarthy, and three midfield aces in Teko Modise, Delron Buckley and Lerato Chabangu are all nursing an assortment of injuries.
New Bafana Bafana coach Joel Santana passed his first test in charge of the national squad when he put his foot down and decided to withdraw troublesome striker Benni McCarthy from next month’s four 2010 African Nations Cup qualifying matches. Santana and his technical team met with the temperamental Blackburn Rovers striker on Wednesday afternoon.
Veteran Bafana Bafana midfield hard man Macbeth Sibaya has a simple plan for beating Nigeria when the two enemies meet in a crunch 2010 African Nations Cup group four qualifier in Abuja on Sunday. The Russia-based midfield destroyer says the formula for victory over the Super Eagles is to stick to new coach Joel Santana’s game plan.
Bafana Bafana’s hard-tackling midfielder, Lance Davids, will not be star-struck when he lines up against Nigeria in what could be the biggest match of his career in Abuja on Sunday. Kick-off is at 5pm South African time. The 23-year-old Cape Town-born Davids is one of the promising stars who local fans are hoping will set the 2010 World Cup finals alight.
Bafana Bafana’s technical and communications staff were seemingly in a tizzy on Monday after confirmation that Benson Mhlongo had smashed his ankle and petulant Benni McCarthy had broken his word to arrive at the training camp on Monday prior to Sunday’s crucial African Nations qualifier against Nigeria.
New Bafana Bafana coach Brazilian Joel Santana has not come to South Africa on a safari. At his first press conference at Johannesburg’s Safa House on Monday, he spelt out what he hoped to achieve during the 30 months that he will be in charge of the national team. ”I will do my talking on the training pitch,” he said.
Mamelodi Sundowns had their minds on Saturday’s Nedbank Cup final and paid the price when Free State Stars thumped the defending Premier Soccer League champions 4-0 in the final league fixture of the season. Meanwhile, Santos ended in third position on the league table after beating Platinum Stars 1-0, and Orlando Pirates beat AmaZulu 4-1.
Bafana Bafana’s new coach, Joel Santana, faced a scrum of media photographers when he arrived on Sunday at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport. It took Santana’s South African Police Service escort less than a minute to whisk Santana out of the airport and into his car en route to his hotel.
The new Bafana Bafana coach, Brazilian Joel Santana, jets in to take charge of the national football side on Sunday morning. This was confirmed on Friday by South African Football Association spokesperson Morio Sanyane, who stressed that there would be no immediate press interviews.
Bafana Bafana’s new coach, Joel Santana, will have to earn his huge salary when he arrives in Johannesburg next week to take over from fellow Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira. Santana was warned by world football governing body Fifa that it expected Bafana to shine at both the Confederations Cup next year and the 2010 World Cup finals.
In the samba spirit that the South African Football Association seems to have been seized by, and to welcome Joel Santana, the Brazilian coach, South Africans now have an opportunity to convert their names to Brazilian ones. After all, one Brazilian turn deserves another.
New Bafana Bafana coach Joel Santana may have started packing his bags in Rio de Janeiro to embark on his controversial appointment as the new Bafana Bafana coach in place of compatriot Carlos Alberto Parreira early next month — but he will have a mountain on his mind as steep as the famed Sugar Loaf before he leaves Brazil en route to South Africa.
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.
The South African Football Association (Safa) has finally confirmed the appointment of Joel Santana as coach of Bafana Bafana, following the resignation of Carlos Alberto Parreira on Monday. The worst-kept secret in local soccer was confirmed in a press release from the body on Wednesday.
South Africa will wait to finalise a contract with their new coach before officially announcing his appointment, the South African Football Association’s CEO said on Wednesday. ”We expect everything to be in place with all contractual and legal obligations sorted out by May 4,” Raymond Hack told local radio.
Though Carlos Alberto Parreira will quit his post as coach of Bafana Bafana to be with his ill wife, he remain a technical adviser to the team, he announced on Monday. Meanwhile, the sports website GloboEsporte reported late on Monday that Joel Santana, coach of Brazil’s Flamengo club, would succeed Parreira.
Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira announced his resignation on Monday as coach of 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa. World Cup-winning coach Parreira, who served 15 months of a three-and-a-half-year contract aimed at transforming the struggling national team, quit because his Brazil-based wife is ill after recent major surgery.
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.