Sven interested in Bafana job

2006-04-19 14:45

Stockholm - Current England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is said to be interested in taking over the vacant South African coaching job Swedish media reported on Wednesday.

Eriksson's long-time assistant, Tord Grip, confirmed in Aftonbladet that Eriksson had been approached by South African football officials.

"They asked "Svennis" in connection with a workshop in Germany," Grip said.

Grip underlined that no concrete talks were being held.

"There has been no offer, no talks. It was not more than a question," Grip said, adding the coaching duo have not been approached by any other teams either.

Grip expected interest to pick up after the leagues end for the pending World Cup finals, and clubs start planning for the next season.

The Swedish coaching duo will leave the English coaching positions after the World Cup in Germany later this year. "Nothing has been decided yet where we will go, but if something happens, it will happen in the next two weeks," Grip said.

Eriksson has also been linked with Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

The 2010 World Cup hosts, South Africa, recently released a list of 13 coaches who are said to have been shortlisted to take over the Bafana coaching reins.

Eriksson, as well as Brazilian World Cup winners Carlos Alberto Parreira and Luiz Felipe Scolari headed the list of potential South African national team coaches.

Bafana is currently being coached on a caretaker-basis by Pitso Mosimane and Steve Komphela. They will be in charge of the team in a regional competition next month.

Also on the list were the Dutch duo Frank Rijkaard and Guus Hiddink, Frenchman Patrice Nouveau, former Zambia coach Kalusha Bwalya, Nigerians Christopher Eguavoen and Stephen Keshi as well as local coaches Mosimane, Komphela, Jomo Sono and Gordon Igesund.

Hiddink has since accepted an offer to coach the Russian national team.

The South African Football Association (Safa) said earlier that a permanent coach would be appointed after the World Cup. Sapa-dpa

- SAPA