Opinion piece
Saw a cool headline today “Keep the Coach, Fire the Spineless SAFA Board” – well that is perhaps a bit over the top, but didn’t the new President Kirsten Nematendani come flying out of the starting blocks, promising to take this soccer crisis in hand?
Kirsten Nematandani SAFA President
Nematandani, who was elected unopposed last month after Danny Jordaan and Irvin Khoza pulled out of the South African Football Association election race ( that’s another story), immediately vowed to take a serious look at Bafana Coach Joel Santana’s performances during his 16-month rein.
“I simply cannot fire the coach after being in office only two hours,” he is quoted by SAPA as having said after winning the presidential race. “But I will make an informed decision once I have all the facts.
What does Kirsten Nematandani do? He passes the buck er ball and appoints a panel of Clive Barker, Jomo Sono and Gavin Hunt, to assess Santana’s performance. Then we hear reports from Norway, that Santana will allow nobody near his team and that the assessors are to be spectators, just like us fans.
Rumours and Stories – Is Parreira coming back from Brazil?
Well, this tour was sad. Bafana Bafana lost in Oslo and also in Reykjavik and just as the fans are baying for blood, we read in the Sowetan that an unnamed Safa official says that Parreira is coming back from Brazil – his sick wife has recovered (praise the Lord) and he is willing to return to South Africa to perform a miracle on the South African National Football Team – at round R1, 8 a month and only if he is the ONLY coach.
So is he really willing to boot his bra ( Santana, who he gave to use when he had to leave so suddenly) into touch (to use a rugby metaphor) and shine up Banafa Bafana in six months? – but hey this is all unofficial/ off the record/ deniable… Comrade Mo territory.
The official word from SAFA is… not true!
In fact, yesterday SAFA slammed the media for “misleading the public”
Nematandani Gives Santana Two More Matches
Kirsten Nematandani said Santana would be given two more matches to sort out his problems with the national squad. He denies having ever spoken to Parreira and declares that his agreement has always been that Santana would be assessed over three friendly matches. (Pity he did not communicate it that clearly to the public)
Friendlies against Japan and Jamaica in November
These games include last night’s match, to be followed by a friendly on November 14 against Japan, at Orlando stadium, and another one three days later, in Bloemfontein, against Jamaica.
We should have Won Against Iceland and Madagascar
The fact is that Santana has led the national team to just one win in nine matches, which has prompted the nation’s media to campaign for the coach’s dismissal.
Let us just take a reality check before we throw the coach under the bus. The fact that South Africa is currently ranked 73rd in the world- Bafana Bafana played Germany(4) Ireland (38), Norway (43) – so we were punching well beyond our reach. But we should have hammered Iceland and Madagascar.
One hopes that new SAFA President Kirsten Nematendani and his board know what they are doing – they could just be taking Bafana Bafana down a dangerous road. If they sack Santana next month, the new coach will have around six months to prepare the side for the 2010 World Cup.
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