Mark Gleeson

(Updates after Parreira appointed)

Joel Santana arrived for what he thought was a routine review of his work with his South African Football Association bosses on Monday and within hours was packing his bags for a return to Brazil, ending his tenure as the 15th coach employed by South Africa in the last 17 years.

The run of poor results in recent internationals plus last year's early elimination from the African Nations Cup qualifiers, had left Bafana Bafana in deep crisis, a team without any confidence or direction and running out of time before hosting the 2010 World Cup finals.

Santana had done himself few favours, first with his inability to learn passable English even after 18 months in the country and secondly his glib answers to increasingly concerned questions about the progress of the team. His side have looked listless and without direction in recent matches.

Santana was the second coach in the country's Brazilian experiment, following Carlos Alberto Parreira as South Africa turned to the land of the five-time word champions for the expertise to mould their 2010 team.

Parreira has now returned to the job. He quit in April 2008 after his wife was found to have cancer. She has since recovered and he had indicated over the last days he would be interested in returning to the job.

There was, however, a clamour for a local coach to take over, with popular sentiment believing the experiment with foreign coaches has failed. In the past the deluge of callers to phone-in shows on radio and TV has influenced the decision of SAFA, which makes for a potentially dangerous decision-making.

The issue of Santana's successor was discussed on Friday by the association's leadership and Parreira will be in charge for the next internationals at home to Japan and Jamaica in mid-November. He will have six months to resurrect the country's hopes of at least making it past the first round.

PHOTO: Carlos Alberto Parreira reacts during a match against Swaziland at Ellis Park in Johannesburg March 13, 2007. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

World Cup organisers had plans to spread the 32 finalists for the 2010 tournament across South Africa, giving every corner of the country a chance to feel a little of the fever close at hand.

While the matches are only being played at 10 venues in nine cities, the team bases would have allowed for a wider spread, with the opportunity to watch a training session becoming almost as valuable a commodity as a match ticket for star-starved supporters away from the World Cup mainstream.

South Africa has a sparking coastline, lots of resorts of varying standards plus the interior of the country also enjoys a sophisticated tourist infrastructure.

There are many options from which teams can choose a base for the 2010 tournament and the major countries, qualified or not, have already been to South Africa to make their selection. Some coastal towns have done extensive marketing to try and attract a major football-playing nation to their location and a chance to share in the World Cup spotlight.

But to the horror of the 2010 organisers the vast majority of teams are plumping for a place at altitude, for the distinct advantage they feel it gives them.

Most national coaches, who have already been to South Africa on inspection visits, have demanded they stay and train up on high ground in Gauteng, the province that incorporates the greater Johannesburg and Pretoria area, where the air is thinner and the training therefore more effective. It is likely the vast majority of the teams will be cloistered together in a radius of some 150 sq km.

Only France, Sweden and Paraguay have elected so far to set up a coastal base, although so far only the latter have secured qualification to the 2010 tournament.

France have booked a facility at George on the southern Cape coast after their coach Raymond Domenech personally came to look at several options. Whether he'll make it to the World Cup next year remains to be seen, even if France do make it through November's Europe play-offs.

Paraguay are heading to the Eastern Cape while the Swedes have booked in at Durban, but must still win several key qualifiers before they can move in!

Brazil have booked a spot in Bloemfontein while England will be based at Sun City but the most popular venue is Pretoria. Argentina, Germany, Italy, Mexico and the USA have booked hotels or guest lodges in the capital. Italy are to stay at the same lodge where they spent a unsuccessful Confederations Cup and also use the same school for their training.

German coach Joachim Loew also insisted on a base at altitude for his side while Argentina sent their 1986 winning coach Carlos Bilardo, now an advisor to Diego Maradona, to check out facilities. They want the thin air too.

Japan and Switzerland have booked in Johannesburg and the Dutch have done a deal with South African premier league club Wits University to use their facilities and, in turn, are building extra pitches and an improved club house for the Johannesburg-based club. They have already also started a training exchange programme and promise to keep it up long past the 2010 tournament.

PHOTO: South Africa's coach Joel Santana and the World Cup 2010 mascot applaud during a friendly soccer match against Germany in Leverkusen September 5, 2009. REUTERS/Ina Fassbender

In the previous post, Martyn Herman looked at soccer's international minnows while here Mark Gleeson discusses the particular plight of New Zealand.

Oceania, as a confederation, threatened to disintegrate under the weight of a quick fire Fernando Torres hat-trick on Sunday night.

The match-up in the Confederations Cup between European champions Spain and New Zealand, who represent FIFA’s smallest and least competitive confederation, was almost as one-sided as any major international in decades.

As Torres banged in three goals in the first 17 minutes, so the legitimacy of the 11-member confederation came under a stark spotlight.

Fortunately for Oceania’s cause, the Spanish managed just two more, albeit one profiting from a schoolboy error, but there will surely come a time when the gulf between the collection of Pacific island nations and the rest of the footballing world no longer produces a remotely equitable contest.

Despite their best lobbying effort, Oceania are repeatedly denied a direct berth to the World Cup on sporting grounds. Their best team must playoff, usually against a South American country, or in the case for 2010, an Asian side, to qualify.

Australia moved from Oceania to Asia because they felt it was uncompetitive and not advancing the standard of their game. Now New Zealand, where football is hoping to evolve from its current status as a minority sport, rules the roost against the islands, often barely breaking a sweat to dominate the confederation’s competitions.

On the evidence of Sunday’s performance, New Zealand football would do well to join the Asian confederation too. They frankly need more exposure.

Indeed Oceania’s collective cause is best served by folding into the Asian confederation where the island teams will find many other countries of the same footballing pedigree and have more competition too.

Already Asia have created two tiers to accommodate its less proficient members and end years of ridiculous mis-matches.

As Torres was riding roughshod in Rustenburg, I wonder whether that thought crossed the minds of any of FIFA’s top leadership.

PHOTO: Spain's Fernando Torres (C) rises above the New Zealand defence to score his third goal during their Confederations Cup soccer match at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg June 14, 2009. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

We are now less than a week away from the start of the Confederations Cup and the first true test of South Africa's preparedness to host the 2010 World Cup.

It's hard for a lot of people to take the Confederations Cup seriously, although in Germany four years ago it did develop into a summer festival and in the end proved a tasty appetiser before the main meal 12 months later.

The field for South Africa is somewhat lob-sided: Brazil, Italy and the all-conquering Spanish are the strong favourites with the United States, Egypt and South Africa perhaps having the potential to create an upset. Iraq and New Zealand should pose few problems for the big teams.

Most importantly, though, this is a test of the organisational ability of the World Cup hosts, whose preparations for 2010 have been clouded by uncertainty.

That has been partly because of international scepticism over the ability of an African country to organise an event of the magnitude of the World Cup and partly because South Africa have failed dismally to spin the positives of their bid.

But the evidence of potential is now beginning to emerge from beneath the mountains of bricks and dramatic skyline of cranes.

The stadiums are all scheduled to be completed ahead of time and the country's infrastructure is already looking sleeker and smarter, although new road works and airport upgrades continue at pace.

Ultimately, though, it will be the people who make or break the event.

There is an underlying spirit of hospitality to South Africans but it is also a country with a dangerous crime rate that makes many visitors nervous. This month presents the chance for a good deal of positive marketing.

Whether South Africa snatches up the opportunity remains to be seen.

PHOTO: A fan smiles during South Africa's friendly against Poland at Orlando stadium in Soweto June 6, 2009, ahead of the Confederations Cup. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

South Africa’s Brazilian coach Joel Santana has broken into English at news conferences on just a handful of occasions.

It's mostly after rare wins for the national side when the local media are in good humour and Santana seeks to charm them with his piecemeal vocabulary. Few notes are taken amid the mirth.

So it was after Saturday’s win over Poland in Soweto – a rare triumph for Bafana Bafana against European opposition which is a confidence booster for a side in desperate need of a lift.

As upcoming World Cup hosts, much is being made of the need for the home country to field a competent and competitive side at the 2010 tournament.

Santana has been tasked with achieving that goal but his first 12 months in charge has been mired in mediocrity.

A triumph over a holidaying Polish team, shorn of many of their first choice players, is in reality no indictor of whether Santana’s work will take the team to a better level.

South Africa now face the Confederations Cup, where Iraq and New Zealand are their first two opponents.

But success against this pair will also make us no wiser as to their true potential. But it may mean being subjected to a few more news conferences in English from Santana.

He has taken to heart recent critical comparisons with the way Fabio Capello has made an obvious effort at improving his English fluency since starting his tenure with England.

Capello is a veritable Stephen Fry in comparison with Santana, but the hacks will be happy if Santana keep trying because it means the team is winning.

PHOTO: South Africa soccer coach Joel Santana looks on during a news conference in Johannesburg June 4, 2009. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

The progress of two Nigerian teams into the group phase of the African Champions League defies the supposed impact of the continuing exodus of the country’s top talent to almost every distant footballing corner of the world.

Kano Pillars caused a major upset last month with their shock win over defending champions Al Ahly, albeit on the away goal rule, while Heartland FC eliminated last year’s runners-up Coton Sport of Cameroon at the same stage of the competition. Both results plunged the established order into disarray and offer now the Nigerians a chance to prove their immense resources.

Nigerian club football has had steady representation in the Champions League over the last 13 years but besides Enyimba, the state sponsored team from Aba State, no club has ever displayed title winning potential.

Much of that has to do with the flight of players from the country, off in search of better earnings and opportunity on foreign football fields. There are more than 200 Nigerian footballers playing across the globe, from the top leagues in England, Germany, Italy and Spain to lesser footballing markets like India, Vietnam and even in Albania.

Losing the top 200 players is a massive blow to any country and in particular the domestic championship. Nigeria might have a professional league in name but it is still a shambolic competition, dominated by extreme violence and routine disorgansiation. Attacks on players, coaches and referees remain common place and although there is some TV coverage, much of it is frustratingly haphazard for the broadcaster. The standard too is hampered by poor facilities and the player drain.

Nigeria, given their immense resources, really should be the powerhouse of club football in Africa. But because so many players have left, success for Africa’s most populous nation at club level is infrequent. The progress of Kano Pillars and Heartland FC, neither of whom have ever progressed this far before in the 13 years of the Champions League format, bucks that trend.

It emphasises again the immense potential of Nigerian football, which given its passionate following and playing resources should be the most prominent in Africa. But whether the progress of the pair of the clubs to the last eight of the Champions League, and the elite group field, is an anomaly or not will become evident in the coming months of competition.

The pivotal marketing position when South Africa were still bidding for the 2010 World Cup was the assertion it would be a tournament for all of the continent. ‘Africa’s bid’ was the pay-off line used throughout the successful campaign.

Using famous footballing personalities from around the continent, South Africa garnered widespread support with its all-inclusive approach against their Arab rivals in the race to win the right to host the event.

But for their crowing about pan-African idealism, which the South African World Cup organisers still like to proffer from time to time, there is a growing ambivalence in the country about football to the north of its border.

It is as if South Africa looks more to Europe for inspiration and sporting solidarity and, if it had a choice, would bypass competition in Africa all together.

South Africa is ironically a founder member of the Confederation of African Football but increasingly uninterested in the organisations’competitions, notably at club level.

The country is one of 12 allowed the dispensation of having two teams instead of one in each of the annual African Champions League and African Confederation Cup.

Rarely, though, do South African clubs fill the generous quota, seeing entry into the pan African events as an unnecessary drain on time and resources.

In South Africa, the attitude is reflected by the way the local football community speaks of “playing in Africa” when the referring to the two competitions, as if the country is disconnected from the African land mass. In the same way, the British talk about “playing in Europe” but at least they have the English Channel as a geographical, rather than mental, barrier.

This year South African clubs have been particularly poor in the two competitions and by next weekend should all be embarrassingly eliminated after just three rounds of competition. The reason is they frankly couldn’t care less.

South African champions SuperSport United took a blasé attitude to the Champions League and got knocked out by Kampala City Council of Uganda. Such is the ambivalence with which the club regarded the biggest club competition on the continent, that Ugandan expatriates outnumbered SuperSport supporters by at least 10 to one when KCC played in Johannesburg.

There were so many glaring misses by SuperSport, against obviously inferior opposition, it seemed that were willing themselves to be knocked out so as to avoid onerous travel around the continent at the same time as they are seeking to retain their domestic league championship.

Ajax Cape Town went out as well to opposition from cash-strapped Zimbabwe, having approached the competition as a hindrance to their domestic agenda.

The big spending Mamelodi Sundowns are likely to be eliminated next weekend when they travel to Kinshasa for a match against AS V Club of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They were held 2-2 at home in the first leg.

While proclaiming African fraternity, almost all the South African soccer community is dismissive of the merits of CAF competition. They bemoan the cost, the low level of hospitality, bad referees and poor pitches.

But isn’t the purpose of playing to overcome such odds and win competitions and international glory, as opposed to balancing the books at the end of the season? Winning a competition as punishing as the African Champions League is prestige far beyond any domestic dominance and it is bewildering that coaches and players from the South African Premier Soccer League do not see it that way.

And what of the supposed African camaraderie? Or was that just a marketing bluff to help win the right to host the 2010 World Cup?

Never has there been as much bounty in terms of African talent as there is now. 

Although the continent has long been a conveyor belt of talent, genuine world stars from the African continent have been few and far between.

Liberia’s George Weah was winner of the World Player of the Year and also won Europe’s Ballon d’Or, but it could be argued both awards came in a quiet year.

Mozambique-born Eusebio achieved his fame and repute in the colours of colonial Portugal and has never had his achievements genuinely accepted by African fans.

But over the last years, a sprinkling of world class stars have emerged, leaving the suggestion African football has never been a more exciting commodity than at present.

Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o and Emmanuel Adebayor have all won the African Footballer of the Year award in recent years while Michael Essien has been a consistent nominee.

All four find themselves at the pinnacle of the world game, playing for clubs who all this week won through to the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League, universally accepted as a club competition without peer.

That the African quartet are among the most influential in the competition is a source of great pride to the continent. But it has also launched a massive debate as to who is the finest African footballer of his day.

Eto’o has won three African Footballer of the Year titles; Drogba one but it should have been two had he not been deprived of the other by the egos of the game’s administrators. Adebayor was named the 2008 Footballer of the Year, perhaps a little generously.

Essien is a persistent top three finisher in the poll of the last five years, but by far the most consistent of the quartet.

Each candidate has merit. Eto’o has had a distinguished career for both club and country and played in one more World Cup than the other three. He also helped Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions to two successive African Nations Cup titles in 2000 ands 2002.

The way he has resurrected his career at Barcelona also attests to the feisty spirit which he brings to the game but it is his pace off the mark that is most breathtaking.

Ivory Coast captain Drogba has power and finishing acumen but did not distinguish himself with a sulky attitude earlier this season when Luiz Filipe Scolari was manager at Chelsea.

Essien is a machine, running and plundering like a warrior of old. He is the best Ghanaian footballer since Abedi Pele. Adebayor’s spindly frame suggests a gangly game but how well he has done since moving from the fringes of the first team at Monaco to Arsenal.

Goals in both legs against Villarreal in the Champions League quarter-final were proof of his elevation to the ranks of the world class. Plus he single handedly carries his tiny country Togo at international level.

The question now which one is the best African footballer? If a vote were to be taken today, who could claim the heritage of Eusebio and Weah?

Egypt might have won the last two African Nations Cup tournaments but the Pharaohs seem to have hit a stumbling block when it comes to the World Cup.

For all their prowess at the last two continental championships, and their glittering array of successes at club level, Egyptian soccer is becoming increasingly haunted by the spectre of continued failure to make it to biggest footballing showpiece of them all.

That means a pressured preparation for the country ahead of the start of the vital final phase of qualifiers for the 2010 finals in South Africa.

Already protesting supporters have managed to disrupt training during the week in Cairo as the Pharaohs prepared for Sunday’s Group C game against Zambia.

Sections of fans, hurling insults at goalkeeper Essam Al Hadari, were confronted by other supporters and training had to be halted. Al Hadari remains a figure of some derision after leaving Cairo favourites Al Ahli in acrimonious circumstances for a career in Switzerland.

While this is essentially an old and now tedious issue that long ago should have been laid to rest, it was the spark this week for a broader demonstration of the nervousness of the Egyptians on the eve of the start of the business end of the qualifiers.

They have a quality side, albeit aging, and a great reputation for being almost impossible to overcome at home. But there is also a psychological hurdle that Egypt must get over in the World Cup.

Egypt were the first African country to play in the finals in 1934.
 
Since qualification was regionalised after World War Two, Egypt have only come through the African preliminaries on one occasion -– to qualify for the 1990 finals in Italy.
Given their preeminent role in African football, Egypt should have qualified for many more World Cups.

In the qualifying campaign for the 2006 finals in Germany, they finished a disappointing third in their group but for 2010 they have been handed a much more favourable draw.

Also in their group are Algeria and Rwanda, not regarded as serious candidates.
Indeed Egypt are installed as runaway favourites in their group, a position matched only by the Ivory Coast in Group E.

But there are intriguing contests in prospect in the other three pools. Cameroon and Morocco will be a combustive clash in Group A as will the battle between Nigeria and Tunisia in Group C.

In Group D, Mali could emerge as a new force in continental football.
 
They have some real superstars in their squad although two of them -– Mohamed Lamine Sissoko (Juventus) and Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid) are injured for their visit to Sudan on Saturday.

How is this for a African line-up in 2010: Cameroon, Nigeria, Egypt, Mali and the Elephants of the Ivory Coast?

South Africa has always been a country of great contrasts and irony but there is something bizarre about the current furore over a proposed visit by the New Zealand Maoris.

Reports say South Africa are considering turning down a request for the Maori to play the Springboks on the grounds that the Boks do not play teams selected on racial grounds.

Coach Peter de Villiers wants to play the game, as a warm-up match before the start of the mid-year Tri-Nations tournament, but his bosses cite "hurdles" to overcome.

One, according to the SA Rugby Union's website, is a union resolution forbidding the appearance of SARU teams against opponents "selected along racial lines".

The South Africans will only decide next month whether to accept the request to play the match, which if it does go ahead will have added symbolism by being hosted in the black township of Soweto.

How times have changed from the era when the All Blacks used to leave out Maoris so as not to offend their Springboks hosts and the lily-white Boks refused to play teams of colour.

It is a measure of South Africa's transition from a racial pariah state, that the pendulum has swung so dramatically.

But is there perhaps too much political correctness at play here. New Zealand do not have any problem with a racially-selected side as their relations commissioner Joris de Bres has written to the SA Rugby Union.

"As New Zealand's Race Relations Commissioner I appreciate why such a policy would have been adopted, particularly because of the racial discrimination in sport that existed in South Africa under apartheid," De Bres said.

"However, there is no such discrimination in New Zealand: people of all ethnic backgrounds are eligible to play in New Zealand's national, regional and local representative teams. Alongside that, consistent with the principle of freedom of association, people are free to play together in any other combination.

"I would urge you to proceed with the proposed game between the Springboks and the New Zealand Maori rugby team in Soweto. I am sure it would be welcomed by the people of Soweto, the people of South Africa and the people of New Zealand."

PHOTO: South Africa's Peter de Villiers (R) flanked by South Africa Rugby President Oregan Hoskins speaks during a news conference to announce his appointment as the new Springboks rugby union coach in Cape Town Jan. 9, 2008. REUTERS/Howard Burditt