SA soccer: Blind leading blind

2008-06-23 22:02

Johannesburg - In 2002 when Carlos Queiroz was at the helm of Bafana Bafana, the highly-respected Manchester United assistant manager outlined an eight-year plan aimed towards the 2010 World Cup - and warned the South African Football Association (Safa) that eight years was not a long time to achieve the necessary structural objectives.

This past weekend, on a brief visit to South Africa where his daughter is living, Queiroz lamented in an interview with Johannesburg's "The Weekender" newspaper "the six wasted years" - and said it was heart-wrenching to find the affairs of the national team in a worse state than in 2002.

"Now what is required," said the urbane Queiroz, who played a pivotal role in Manchester United's memorable recent Premiership and Uefa Champions League triumphs, "is to achieve what would have been difficult in eights years to be performed in two years - and, if you believe in miracles, here is one staring you in the face.

"To find South Africans jubilantly celebrating victories at home against a modest team like Equatorial Guinea and losing to 163rd-placed Sierra Leone," he added, "with the World Cup less than two years away is nothing short of tragic for a nation with such a passionate, but misled interest in soccer.

Blind are still leading the blind

"Wherever South African soccer has been heading these past six years," said Queiroz, "it has not been routed to what has taken place on the neglected field of play. " Meaningful technical structures," he added, "that are guided by knowledgable experts remain largely non-existent and the blind are still leading the blind.

"I hope passionately that a miracle materialises in 2010," said Queiroz, "and Bafana are somehow able to come out of the World Cup with their heads held high. But short of something like an emergency Marshall Plan coming out of nowhere to save the day, I have grave misgivings about this happening.

He said it was "a body blow" losing a coach of Carlos Alberto Parreira's calibre and experience last month - "but even he had his hands full in performing the required miracle in such a short space of time."

Unlike with Parreira, Queiroz said he has had no personal contact with Bafana successor, Joel Santana, but he wishes the Brazilian all the luck in the world - "which he will need." As to Queiroz's own future, one of the world's most respected technical authorities, who was manoeuvred into a situation by a misguided Safa where he had little alternative but to resign as Bafana coach on the eve of the 2002 World Cup, Queiroz said he has been in the game's firmament "too long to plan with any certainty beyond today."

Nothing signed and sealed

He says there is no apparent good reason why he should not be with United next season, but his contract with the European champions is on a rolling basis that is renewed every year - "and with nothing signed and sealed he said he is taking nothing for granted."

"But," he added, "in all likelihood I will be back in South Africa next month with United for the Vodacom Challenge warm-up games against Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates before the start of the next English Premiership season."

Queiroz said he is also honoured and humbled to be mooted as a successor to Sir Alex Ferguson by none other than the legendary United manager himself.

"But there again," he added, "Sir Alex will probably be around for another two or three seasons, if not longer - and a lot can happen in soccer in that time."

Mainly instrumental in wonder footballer Cristiano Ronaldo joining United from Sporting Lisbon, Queiroz said he finds it nothing short of galling how Real Madrid, where he spent a frustrating season himself, have attempted to lure the Portuguese prodigy to Spain in spite of his long-term contract with the English champions.

"Contracts are becoming meaningless in soccer," said Queiroz, "for players and managers - and it is now often a case of dog eating dog."

- SAPA