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25/04/2008 10:37
Tumo Mokone
Shocked, disappointed and angry with the appointment of Joel Natalino Santana as the new Bafana Bafana coach, the South African soccer media has labelled the Brazilian a money-grabbing gogga.
Maybe my colleagues are correct, given Santana's seemingly clumsy record as a coach - 26 jobs in 27 years. This tells me the man is not focused on the job at hand but on his next move - for a better pay cheque of course. In fact the longest Santana has been at one job was in his first ever coaching position, when he worked for four years (1981-1985) with Al Wasl of United Arab Emirates. He won three UAE championships in that period.
But can you blame the man, when you have Arabian sheiks and the SA Football Association (Safa) throwing money at him? Safa are denying he has signed for R1.5m a month, but do not deny it's over R1m. The question is what makes them think Santana is worth that much? How do they know he is the right man to coach South Africa, especially in the light that the Bafana post is one of the most unstable coaching jobs in the world? Or is this Safa's new idea to meet fire with fire?
Technical advisor
There are more strange twists in this saga. Safa admit they know nothing about Santana's reputation as a football coach, and that they appointed him on the strength of Carlos Alberto Parreira's recommendation. In other words they did not interview the man, and allowed Parreira to fix the deal for them. Speaking in an annoying hushed tone during a belated news conference on Monday, Safa president Molefi Oliphant publicly admitted that he had asked Parreira to look for a replacement. How on earth does a jilted suitor ask his departing 'partner' to find a substitute lover for him?
Oliphant went on to say he also asked Parreira to remain a technical advisor for the national team, which effectively means he is seeking to extend Parreira's association with Bafana Bafana. This is madness beyond redemption, and only Safa can dish out such crap and get away with it. Did I hear parliament or the sports ministry cry foul? Of course not.
Parreira has cheated South Africa and doesn't deserve anything as he returns home to Rio de Janeiro with close on R30m for a 15-month job with no highlights to speak of. His R1.8m monthly salary was secured on the strength of him staying in his job until the 2010 Soccer World Cup. He agreed and signed. His wife was ill back then, but she was strong enough to break the news last week that her husband had resigned and was coming home. So powerful was Mrs Parreira's knockout punch last Friday that Safa needed the whole weekend to recover, before confirming the news on Monday.
With R30m in his pocket, for a job half done, and the power to appoint his successor, Parreira must be laughing himself silly every night. He has not achieved anything with Bafana. There are those who point to the 3-0 win over Paraguay as a significant turnaround for SA under Parreira. The truth is that the friendly game revealed very little, but thrilled a lot with three spectacular goals. Paraguay, who are top of the South American qualification competition for 2010 World Cup, did not come here to exert themselves over an exhibition match. They were here to test a few ideas, and give younger players a chance, as part of a bigger plan to keep the momentum going in the qualifiers.
Never lost to SA
The first real test for Parreira was due for May 31, when Bafana travel to Nigeria to open the 2010 World Cup qualifying matches. Nigeria have never lost to SA in an official match, save for the 1-0 defeat to Benedict Vilakazi-inspired Bafana in the 2004 Mandela Inauguration Cup, an exhibition match. In fact, SA have never beaten Nigeria at any level" - Under-17, Under-20, Under-23 and in women's soccer.
Parreira's success was always going to be measured against Bafana's form against Nigeria and other west African giants like Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal. SA football also struggles against the north Africans, and we were still going to meet the likes of Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco in due course.
The 2010 qualifying competition, which also doubles qualifiers for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, is going to take travel-reluctant Bafana to places like Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea for their Group 4 fixtures. To cut a long story short: Parreira chickened out.
Santana in the meantime has gleefully told the Brazilian media about the windfall awaiting him in South Africa. This happened while Safa was busy telling the nation the identity of the new coach would be revealed in due time. The 2010 World Cup is 25 months away, and it remains to be seen if Santana will still be around.
Paltry crowd
Meanwhile, the biggest and most successful club in Africa, Al Ahly of Cairo, are in the country for their CAF Champions League fixture against local minnows, Platinum Stars. Typically the media is not excited about this visit by the Egyptians, because local soccer journalists think the best football in Africa is played in South Africa.
I respect Al Ahly, but my heart will be with Platinum Stars on Saturday. My only concern is the paltry crowd that usually turns out for Stars' home games in Rustenburg. Hopefully there will be a slight difference, as this crucial fixture will be played at Super Stadium in Atteridgeville. Unless soccer lovers in Pretoria come out in numbers, we may be outnumbered by Ahly supporters on home turf.
Tumo writes exclusively for Sport24.
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