The 2010 World Cup merry-go-round continues. Weekend reports suggest that England coach Sven Goran Eriksson is back in the mix to coach Bafana Bafana. But his reported annual salary of R44m must be a huge stumbling block.
Bafana players continue to under-perform - 27/05/2006
Everyone must have got used to the succession of SA losses over the last decade since they won the Africa Cup. Although they wont be participating in the World Cup matches in Germany, its probably just as well that they lost this series to the Germans by the single vote of a grumpy old New Zealander. They would probably have lost the first round as they lost the first round of the Africa Chip Cup in Egypt. In a Nigerian Tribune column, Patrick van Rensburg says that they now have four years before SA hosts the next soccer World Cup. Most of their players are professionally employed by leading clubs in Europe and dont seem to care unduly about the national side as players did a couple of generations ago when they played for the love of their game and for the love of their country. In four years time, some of them might be too old for the side anyway. For all that, Botswana deserves credit for its victory, and SA would do well to take a leaf out of Botswanas soccer book by getting a good coach to train young players who will be ready for the next World Cup in four years time.
The results of two crucial fixtures last weekend accentuated one major crisis afflicting SA soccer: poor scoring form. In the so-called Dream Final in the Absa Cup in Durban, the two biggest clubs in the country, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, huffed and puffed for 120 minutes with no goals, until the lottery of the penalty shootout came to the rescue. For the record Chiefs won 5-3 on penalties. In a column on the News24 site, Tumo Mokone says that Bafana Bafana werent as fortunate in losing on penalties to Botswana in Gaborone, to make an early exit out of the Cosafa Castle Cup. Botswana played a technically superior game as they held Bafana through to a goalless draw, with the hope of better fortune in the lottery that is a penalty shootout against the horribly unmotivated SA team. Their plan worked as they emerged 6-5 winners, while Bafana remain stuck in first gear since their goalless tournament in the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt earlier this year.
After months in which all records for inaccurate and make-believe stories on this and similar issues were shattered to smithereens, Safas quest to find a suitable Bafana Bafana coach for the 2010 World Cup appropriately took off on a note of reality in a svelte suite at Johannesburgs International Airport. The Safa technical committee under the chairmanship of Sturu Pasiya interviewed the only two viable local candidates, Jomo Sono and Gordon Igesund.
Bafana coach talks said to be pie in the sky - 25/05/2006
A report that SA Football Association (Safa) technical committee chairperson Sturu Pasiya held face-to-face talks with Portugal and former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari on the issue of Bafana Bafana coach for the 2010 World Cup has been described as a pie in the sky by former Moroka Swallows coach and Wits University assistant coach Zeca Marques.
Pele backs Parreira for Bafana coaching job - 25/05/2006
Pele believes SA would be better off settling for his former team-mate Carlos Alberto Parreira as Bafana Bafana coach. At a press conference, he shared his views on the direction he feels SA should take to ready themselves for 2010.
Bursting with talent and eternally tipped as the coming force, African countries wont win this World Cup, or the next one, writes David Runciman in a New Statesman column. The reason? For all the money splashing around, nothing is changing at the grass roots. Pelé gave the World Cup some of its greatest moments, but he also burdened it with one of its greatest clichés: in 1977 he announced that an African nation would win the trophy by the end of the 20th century, a prediction that he, and Africa, have never been allowed to forget. After events proved him wrong he extended the deadline to the year 2010, but he will be wrong again.
Search for new Bafana coach continues - 25/05/2006
A report this week that Safa technical committee chairman Sturu Pasiya held face-to-face talks with Portugal and former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari on the issue of Bafana Bafana coach for the 2010 World Cup has been described as pie in the sky by former Moroka Swallows coach and Wits University assistant coach Zeca Marques.
England captain David Beckham has revealed how three years with no trophies at Real Madrid have left him with a thirst for World Cup glory in Germany this summer. Beckham is no longer the central figure in the England set-up that he once was and it seems unlikely that he will still be playing when the 2010 World Cup comes around. But the thought of international retirement has not crossed his mind, and he sees no reason not to aim for a swansong in SA in four years time.
Football gives men a way to express their innermost thoughts and feelings, according to a pre World Cup survey. Almost two-thirds of men believe that while watching or playing football, they are more willing to share their feelings with other men than when doing other activities.
A month ago the SA Football Association (Safa) had a list of seven candidates who they wished to interview for the vacant post of Bafana Bafana coach. The shortlist is expected to be whittled down from a magnificent seven that included World Cup-winning coaches and players, to just two locals. And of that pair Jomo Sono has emerged as the peoples choice ahead of Ajax Cape Towns Gordon Igesund.
Trevor Phillips, The British Bulldog, will leave the PSL when his contract expires in November - muzzled, it would seem, by what the forthright CE described as a post with enormous responsibility and relatively limited authority. And while Phillips says he believes he will be leaving the PSL on a sound footing, the departure of the 64 year-old Englishman at the end of his second tenure with the controlling body of SA soccer could precipitate a similar crisis and spiralling downward trend to the one that emerged after he left for the first time in 2000.
Sono slams shambolic Cosafa Cup preparations - 23/05/2006
Jomo Sono, one of only two local coaches in the running for the vacant Bafana Bafana coaching job, slammed the shambolic preparations for the Cosafa Cup and warned of a rough journey to the 2010 World Cup unless the countrys football leadership puts the well-being of the sport before self-interest.
Search for next Bafana coach almost over - 23/05/2006
The long search for Bafana Bafanas next coach should take a step towards conclusion when members of the SA Football Associations (Safa) Technical Committee convene for a day-long meeting. The committee is expected to spend hours debating which three coaches out of the seven candidates should drop out of the shortlist.
Another tournament, another disappointing performance - this time in the Cosafa Cup. The only highlight... a goal after 13 minutes in the first game against Swaziland on Saturday but that was followed by Sundays goalless draw with Botswana and defeat in a penalty shootout. This comes a few days after Bafana were held to a goalless draw by minnows Lesotho in a friendly. If you add the three group games during the African Nations Cup tournament in January/February to these three games, says George Dearnaley in a column on the News24 site, you get one win, two goalless draws and three defeats with only one goal scored in nine hours of international football! It doesnt take a rocket scientist to work out that things are not going exactly according to any master plan that our national team organisers may have.
The embarrassment of SA soccer continued unabated at the National Stadum in Gaborone as Bafana Bafana crashed out of the Cosafa Cup after a penalty shoot-out defeat against Fifas 103rd ranked Botswana. A tepid quarterfinal with little excitement or inspiration ended goalless - with the team known as The Zebras showing their stripes by netting all six penalty kicks and edging out Bafana 6-5 in the shoot-out.
Viduka appointed Socceroos captain for WC final - 21/05/2006
Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink appointed his captain for the World Cup finals and anointed his own successor beyond Germany. As expected, Hiddink kept faith with striker Mark Viduka as the man to skipper the Socceroos to the World Cup.
Australia campaigns to make soccer its No. 1 sport - 21/05/2006
A blockbuster against Argentina is planned as the first post-World Cup event in a 15-year campaign to make soccer Australias No. 1 sport. Soccer chiefs are negotiating home-and-away friendlies with giant Argentina, with the Australian leg to be played soon after the World Cup.
Bafana Bafanas rampaging slump continued as Fifa issued its latest rankings, leaving caretaker coach Pitso Mosimane in a grim mood over SAs 10-year world low of 53rd place. In the process, SA have also slipped to 10th position in Africa, with Guinea the latest team on the continent to ease past the faltering Bafana.
The Brazil legend Zico praised Scotlands potential but believes it is premature to be thinking seriously about ending their World Cup drought by qualifying for the finals in SA in 2010. The Scots held his Japan team to a 0-0 draw at a sold-out Saitama Stadium to end a confidence-boosting week in east Asia by winning the Kirin Cup.
Perhaps one of England’s most celebrated athletes, English captain David Beckham says he feels optimistic that his country can advance to the finals at next month’s World Cup in Germany. He also says he feels unsure if he will stay on the soccer pitch to play in 2010’s World Cup tournament.
Bako determined to secure Nations Cup for Nigeria - 16/05/2006
Malam Nasir Danladi Bako, chairman of the Nigeria 2010 Nations Cup Bid committee, was resplendent in his white agbada as he lolled inside the departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. He showed confidence, but he admitted that the race was no walkover because the countries in the southern region were ganging up to hand it to Mozambique.
Bafana Bafana took a small step on the road to recovery with a hard fought goalless draw against Lesotho in Maseru. Bafana caretaker coach Pitso Mosimane says he will sleep a lot easier ahead of next Saturdays Cosafa Cup showdown against Swaziland in Gaborone, Boswana. He stressed that his job was to start moulding a squad to play in the 2008 African Nations Cup finals in Ghana and the 2010 World Cup finals at home.
Fifa to push for world anti-doping code - 15/05/2006
Fifa will push for its members to adopt the world anti-doping code in time for the World Cup next month, said the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada). If the code is adopted at Fifas congress before the start of the tournament on June 9 in Germany, the worlds top soccer stars would be subject to two-year suspensions for serious doping violations.
The new coach of the England Football Team has already been announced. There had been much speculation in the press about whether England needs a foreign coach to guide them to the next European Championship as well as the World Cup in 2010? Developments over the past few months tended to suggest that the English FA were desperately keen to sign someone from overseas. Unfortunately The Brazilian Portuguese coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, the one earmarked for the job had withdrawn leaving Steve McClaren the leading contender.
Mourinho dreads 2010 exodus of players - 13/05/2006
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes his players preoccupation with this summers World Cup made securing back-to-back Premiership titles very, very difficult. The Blues amassed 91 points to finish eight clear of Manchester United in the league, but still Mourinho was not entirely content with his squad. Mourinho joked that to avoid the problem recurring before the 2010 World Cup he would take charge of a team without international players.
Mosimane satisfied with Bafana performance - 12/05/2006
Not so long ago, the name Bafana Bafana excited the southern African region. As interim coach Pitso Mosimane enthusiastically announced the national squad that will take on Swaziland in this regional tournament, the hosts dailies were saying Bafana will be without support. But Mosimane is unfazed. Even the friendly against Lesotho that ended in a goalless draw hasnt disappointed him. I was happy with the boys performance. When the big coach takes over, I will advise him this is the core team for 2010, said Mosimane.
Sundowns players selected for Cosafa Cup - 11/05/2006
Bafana Bafana interim coach Pitso Mosimane has named no less than six players from the champions-in-waiting, Mamelodi Sundowns, in the national team for the forthcoming Cosafa Cup in Gaborone, Botswana. I am thinking ahead. I took into consideration guys who had played well at the Gold Cup last year, some of the guys from the African Cup of Nations and obviously with the 2010 World Cup in mind as well, said Mosimane.
Soocceroos coach unveils his WC squad - 110/05/2006
Guus Hiddink, the coach of the Socceroos, has unveiled his World Cup Squad, which could be best described as conservative. Hiddink says that even if the team played in three brave losses during the tournament, it would help the FFA give the young soccer players of Australia the ability to identify with their own World Cup stars, players who would be young enough to play in the future World Cup campaigns of 2010 and beyond.
Europe chase after African soccer jewels - 07/05/2006
Where once it was diamonds and other precious raw materials, now Europe is plundering Africa of the jewels in its footballing crown. Africa has long been a human resource pool that Europe has exploited, initially with the slave trade but now also in the football world. According to the DRCs French coach Claude Leroy it is an uphill battle trying to stave off the predatory agents.
