Parreira to take Bafana into 2010

Brazilian World Cup winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira was on Friday night named as the new Bafana Bafana coach.

He replaced countryman Joel Santana who quit the post on Monday after a spate of poor results.

The president of the South African Football Association (Safa), Kirsten Nematandani, confirmed the worst kept secret in South Africa soccer when he officially announced that Parreira would rejoin Bafana after a lengthy Safa National Executive meeting held at the OR Tambo Airport.

Nematandani said that Parreira, who won the World Cup with Brazil in the United States in 1994, was the only candidate.

"The reason for opting for Parreira so quickly is that we have a massive time constraint with the World Cup just around the corner," Nematandani said.

"I will be honest and say that we knew other South African-born coaches were keen to be appointed. But we simply did not have the time to short list candidates.

"We (the NEC) decided after a lengthy debate that Parreira was the right person to take us to the 2010 World Cup finals."

Parreira, however, will not be earning the massive R1.8-million per month salary he enjoyed in his previous stint at the helm or the R1.4-million Santana earned each month.

"We cannot disclose Parreira's salary but it will be a lot less than what he earned when he was in charge the last time," Nematandani said.

And the Safa president promised that after the 2010 World Cup Safa would appoint a South African coach to lead Bafana.

"It is only right that we appoint one of our own to lead Bafana after the World Cup to take us forward," Nematandani said.

"It is time we start grooming our own coaches for Bafana. We would have preferred a local coach now, but with time against us and the fact that Parreira had started this job in February 2007 and had to leave us last April due to his wife's ill health, it was only right we call him back to finish the job he started."

Parreira is the 17th appointment as Bafana head coach in 17 years since South Africa was re-admitted as a member of world controlling body Fifa after years of isolation due to the former South African regime's Apartheid policy.

Nematandani said Parreira's mandate was to produce the best team he could and a side that would be able to compete against the best in the world at the World Cup.

"We are confident we will have a successful World Cup under Parreira," he said.

The Safa president also announced that a third assistant coach would be added to assist Parreira. The likely coach is SuperSport United's Gavin Hunt who is the stand out candidate.

Many felt that Hunt should have been appointed instead of Parreira. The two current assistant coaches, Pitso Mosimane and Jairo Leal, have been retained.

However, Hunt, Clive Barker and Jomo Sono will continue as assessors for Bafana.

"We have been impressed by the input of the three assessors in such a short space of time and we have mandated them to continue," Nematandani said.

The Safa boss would not confirm or deny whether Jomo Sono would be appointed as the national team's technical director.

"Those are media reports and we have not discussed that issue," he said.

Parreira won the respect of the players when he was in charge last time round and is expected to revive the low spirit in the players' camp.

Although Safa want Parreira and his family to settle in Johannesburg as soon as possible, they are hoping he arrives in time to take charge of the squad ahead of the two friendly matches against Japan at the Orlando Stadium on November 14 and against Jamaica in Bloemfontein on November 17.

FACTBOX: Carlos Alberto Parreira

*EARLY LIFE:

Born on February 27, 1943 in Rio de Janeiro, Parreira worked in soccer as a fitness trainer before taking his first coaching job with Brazilian club Fluminense in 1975 and winning the championship.

*INTERNATIONAL SCENE:

- Appointed national coach of Kuwait, Parreira leads them to their only World Cup finals in 1982 before taking charge of Brazil in an ill-fated spell which lasts just a year.
- After a championship-winning return to Fluminense in 1984, the Brazilian coaches the United Arab Emirates at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
- Following a nomadic domestic managerial spell including Spanish club Valencia, a title-winning season with Turkish side Fenerbahce, Sao Paulo and the New York MetroStars, Parreira is sacked during the 1998 World Cup finals after losing his first two games as Saudi Arabia coach.
- He returns to Brazil with Fluminense the following year and subsequently coaches Atletico Mineiro, Internacional and Corinthians.

*BRAZILIAN SUCCESS:

- Replaces Paulo Roberto Falcao as Brazil's national coach in 1991 and leads them to victory at the 1994 World Cup for the first time in 24 years, beating Italy on penalties. His career high is shortlived however -- following criticism for the team's alleged lacklustre style he resigns after the tournament.
- Nine years later he returns as Brazil coach for a third time to win the Copa America in 2004 and the Confederation Cup in 2005 before quitting a year later after a World Cup quarterfinal exit to France in Germany.

*SOUTH AFRICA:

- Takes charge of South Africa following the 2006 World Cup finals with Brazil but having qualified for the 2008 African Nations Cup finals in Ghana his experimental side fails to make it past the first round.
- Quits South Africa in 2008 after his wife is diagnosed with cancer before returning to Fluminense the following year for a brief and unsuccessful spell.

Factbox by Reuters