Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazilian host t

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1 Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazilian host t 4 No. 21 June/July 2007

2 South African National team coach: coach for 2010 team starts work South Africa s new coach, the Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira, is working in flat out to ensure the 2010 host nation will become a feared opponent. With only three years to go, the clock is ticking. By: Guy Oldenkotte It is up to Parreira to transform the national squad Bafana Bafana ( The Boys in Zulu) into true cup fighters. Something he has to deliver following a promise made by South African president Thabo Mbeki; that the 2010 World Cup would be won by an African team. And according to the fans in the rainbow nation it will hopefully be South Africa. Parreira is the 13th South African coach in the 14 years since they were invited back into FIFA, having been expelled during the apartheid era. This perhaps shows how difficult the position of being the South African coach can be. His predecessors are a varied bunch, including Carlos Queiroz (now assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United), the professor Ted Dumitru and the much-travelled Briton Stuart Baxter. The amiable Brazilian is no stranger to international soccer. Parreira brings with him the most glittering CV, with the 1994 triumph of his native Brazil at the top of the list and his return to coach the Brazilian side at the World Cup in Germany, somewhere in the middle. He was part of three Brazil teams that won the World Cup in 1970 when he was a fitness trainer and in 1994 and 2002 as the main coach. In between Pereira also lead the teams of Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to the World Cup. It shows that Parreira has the pedigree to turn things around on the playing front for Bafana Bafana. But never before has he had such a tremendous challenge. The Brazilian coach who, took over the Bafana Bafana reins on the 5th of February this year, has a lot to do. The squad plunged from top 20 status in FIFA s rankings to number 73. But for him his job description is clear my program here is to build a competitive team for That s it. No. 21 June/July

3 All for one, one for all The way the South African team is going to play, is very simple Parreira says. My philosophy is based on a simple principle; all for one and one for all. A team only succeeds when the individual excels but l want that done within the confines of the team. With this in mind I think a very competitive team can be built for Coming from a nation which annually exports 5000 players to football clubs all over the world, Parreira will have to work with a limited number of players, capable of performing on the international stage. South Africans cannot develop or play in three years time the Brazilian style of football. So we will be working on ball possession, technical drills and goal scoring. South Africans have their own style and l will not impose the Brazilian samba style, he says. squad ended in a 1-1 draw followed by an important qualification match versus Chad (coached by former German national coach Berti Vogts) which he won 2-3 victory. We must qualify for that first, he says with a soft voice. Building a team Building a team in, like Bafana Bafana is not a job that can be done quickly. Our build up to 2010 is a step by step process in building a competitive team. With the talent we have here in Africa, we must encourage attacking football yet at the same time we must learn how to defend. I strongly believe this can be achievable with the support of the South African Football Association SAFA. My plan is that the host team has to at least qualify for the second round of the World Cup, adds the Brazilian. But he warns the South Africans not to expect instant miracles. This is a long process you don t implement a process within a week. Pereira is not forgetting about the imminent requirements, such as qualification for the 2008 Africans Cup of Nation s tournament in Ghana. His first match, a friendly against the Swaziland 6 No. 21 June/July 2007

4 Parreira s effort is seriously hampered by the lack of cooperation from important South African players, playing in European competitions. Several of them have openly doubted the cooperation the Brazilian can expect from the South African Football Association. Blackburn Rovers striker Benni McCarthy has already made clear he will not return to the national squad in the foreseeable future. I know Carlos Alberto Parreira is a quality coach, but I want to wait and see if SAFA let him do this job, he said. I ve seen this type of thing before where a new coach steps in and everything is great for the first couple of months, he continues. The pressure of staying at the top in the English Premiership is enough to keep McCarthy away from the national squad and his experience with the national FA in the past does not contribute to an immediate reunion either. McCarthy s concerns had hardly hit the headlines when it was already turned into reality. Leading South African players, who participated in the Chad trip, voiced their dismay about outstanding payments that still had to be settled one month after the trip. Issues like this will make it even more difficult to get promising South African talents from overseas playing for our national team, Parreira remarks. The youth is the future Rebellious players is the last thing Parreira wants to have for the next few years, but he also believes that his team has to be assembled from the youth. Parreira is however understood to have been disappointed by the standards and organization of junior football in the country, but is ready to be pragmatic in his search for players to thrill an expectant nation in He is planning to implement an under 21s League in South Africa that will help the country to have a continuous production of quality players. The main team for 2010 will be a mixture of both youth and experienced players that will give balance and depth to the national team. Pereira says he does not see himself teaching a player to score goals in four days time because these are thing that should be taught at grass roots level in soccer development. The SAFA has accepted Pereira s proposal that international players be checked on every week for evaluation on call up s for the national side as he says. It does not help to call players who are not actively playing for their clubs. South Africa has little talent spread around the leading leagues of Europe. Of the South Africans in the Premiership, Benni McCarthy and Aaron Mokoena at Blackburn Rovers and Quinton Fortune of Bolton Wanderers, only McCarthy is a regular starter. No South Africans play in Serie A, Spain s Primera Liga or the French first division, and the former Ajax midfielder Steven Pienaar is having a mixed first season with Borussia Dortmund. Not about the money The coach is very well aware of his humble role. History remembers winners not good football. I have no problem imposing my ideas. I am not a humble person I am just a simple person, Parreira says. The reward that comes with the job has nothing to do with that. His salary package provoked widespread outrage in a country with more than 25% unemployment and per capita GDP of 10 thousand US Dollars. It made him earn the nickname of Thatha mamillions Parreira (many millions Parreira) in the tradition of South African football. Parreira will be costing Safa about $250,000 a month to transform Bafana into a competitive side, able to hold their own, in time for their big date on football s greatest stage. I have been in this business for 38 years and my feet are firmly on the ground. I chose to coach South Africa not because of the money but in history of being the coach who worked in the first African soccer World Cup. To ensure Parreira will achieve his final goal, a good performance during the final event, the Brazilian will have the support of three assistants. Coach Jairo Cear Leal will be fulltime, Pitso Musimane and Khabo Zondo will be part time. No. 21 June/July

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