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Moment of truth for Parreira
17/04/2008 13:47 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Bafana Bafana head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, faces his moment of truth when he leads the national side against Nigeria in Abuja next month in the opening 2010 African Nations Cup qualifier.
It will be the start of Bafana's toughest month with four back-to-back Afcon qualifiers which include home and away matches against Equatorial Guinea and an away games against Sierra Leone.
Parreira has decided not to have any more friendly matches or training games ahead of the crunch May 30 Afcon showdown in the central Nigerian city.
Said team manager Sipho Nkumane: "The technical staff and head coach were happy with the display in the 3-0 win over Paraguay in our friendly at the Super Stadium earlier this month. We will be monitoring local players in the PSL but at this stage we will not be scheduling more friendly matches. "
Parreira began rebuilding Bafana in preparation for the 2010 World Cup finals at home last February when he was appointed as head coach.
But Nkumane realises that this will be Bafana's biggest test under Parreira who won the World Cup as coach of Brazil in 1994 in the United States.
Automatically qualify
"We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But we are not fooling ourselves. Nigeria at home are a very tough team to beat in the first Afcon qualifier. It is even more important for them as the qualifiers double up as qualifiers for 2010. "
As hosts South Africa automatically qualify for the 2010 showpiece.
Bafana can expect no favours from a Super Eagles team full of talent like captain and Portsmouth star Nwankwo Kanu, Newcastle United striker Obafemi Martins who has finally recovered his goal scoring touch and the classy Everton hit man Yakubu Aiegbeni and Chelsea midfield ace John Obi Mikel.
There has never been any love lost between Bafana and the Super Eagles after Bafana won the 1996 African Nations Cup at home when Nigeria as defending champions pulled out of the event due to politics.
Bafana's only trip to Nigeria was in the semi-finals of the 2000 African Nations Cup finals where Bafana were on a hiding to nothing against a hostile crowd in Lagos. Bafana lost that semi-final 2-0 but ended third.
Bafana were intimidated from the time they arrived in the Nigerian capital. Bafana can expect more of the same on May 30.
Major venues
Meanwhile Bafana are expected to play their away qualifier against Sierra Leone in Gambia on June 14-15 after world body Fifa have ruled there are no suitable stadiums in Sierra Leone to host and important Afcon qualifier.
Bafana will play both home matches against Equatorial Guinea on June 7 and Sierra Leone on June 21 at Atteridgeville's Super Stadium due to the fact the other major venues in Gauteng are being upgraded for 2010.
Said Nkumane; "We have4 played twice at Super Stadium - the other was in the Cosafa Cup against Botswana last year and won both. We received tremendous support from the public in Atterdigeville and are counting on fans getting behind Bafana in June."
- SAPA
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