Bafana Gear Up For 2010
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Bafana Bafana start the hilly road to 2010 on Wednesday.
After warming the hearts of the nation with some spirited performances at the recently-concluded Confederations Cup, the South African national football team is back in action when they take on Serbia in an an international friendly at the Super Stadium in Atteridgeville on Wednesday night (kick off 7pm).
With South Africa the World Cup hosts in 2010, Bafana gain automatic entry to the prestigious, most popular, sporting event on the planet.
But therein lies a disadvantage, in that head coach Joel Santana has no real, competitive qualifying fixtures to use to prepare the team.
And the fact that Bafana have failed to qualify for next year's African Cup of Nations doesn't help either.
So, from now to the start of the World Cup on South African soil in June 2010, friendlies are all Bafana and Santana can rely on.
But the next three fixtures should give the Brazilian coach more insight into the readiness of the squad.
Serbia, ranked 14th on the Fifa world rankings, loom large tomorrow and, after that, Bafana have friendly games against Germany and the Republic of Ireland.
Good news from the Bafana camp is that Santana is set to join the squad on Tuesday.
The coach was back home on holiday in Brazil - after the Confederations Cup - but was then struck down with bad case of pneumonia.
There were initial fears that Santana would be prohibited from travelling, because of the worldwide swine flu scare, and that the coach would not make it to tomorrow's game.
But the SA Football Association said Santana was cleared to travel to South Africa and would take his place on the Bafana bench.
"Santana has been cleared by his doctor and will travel to South Africa to resume his duties with the national team," a Safa statement said. "After a medical check-up in Rio de Janeiro yesterday, the coach has been declared fit to fly and he will arrive at the Bafana camp today to take charge of the team."
In Santana's absence, the Bafana squad was prepared by the two assistant-coaches, Pitso Mosimane and Jairo Leal.
Mosimane, 45, in his playing days turned out for Jomo Cosmos and Mamelodi Sundowns, as well as an extended spell for Ionikos in Greece. He also has four Bafana caps to his name.
Before taking up the Bafana assistant-coach position, he was the head coach of SuperSport United.
Leal, also a Brazilian, was brought to South Africa by former Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. When Parreira left, Leal was asked to remain to assist Santana.
Leal explained why the upcoming friendlies were so critical for Bafana.
"This is an important part of our build-up for the 2010 football showpiece," Leal told reporters. "We need as many competitive matches as possible before June next year to prepare the side.
"We have done our homework and have analysed a number of Serbia's World Cup qualifying matches. I believe they will prove to be very tough opponents.
"But they are the sort of opposition we need to keep our players sharp and prepared."
Serbia have omitted a few of their star players - like Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic and Inter Milan's Dejan Stankovic - but they are still expected to provide Bafana with a major challenge.
Most of their players perform in the top leagues in Europe, in Italy, Germany and England.
Serbia are currently enjoying a cracking good run in their World Cup qualifying group, where they lead the standings ahead of former World Champions France.
After warming the hearts of the nation with some spirited performances at the recently-concluded Confederations Cup, the South African national football team is back in action when they take on Serbia in an an international friendly at the Super Stadium in Atteridgeville on Wednesday night (kick off 7pm).
With South Africa the World Cup hosts in 2010, Bafana gain automatic entry to the prestigious, most popular, sporting event on the planet.
But therein lies a disadvantage, in that head coach Joel Santana has no real, competitive qualifying fixtures to use to prepare the team.
And the fact that Bafana have failed to qualify for next year's African Cup of Nations doesn't help either.
So, from now to the start of the World Cup on South African soil in June 2010, friendlies are all Bafana and Santana can rely on.
But the next three fixtures should give the Brazilian coach more insight into the readiness of the squad.
Serbia, ranked 14th on the Fifa world rankings, loom large tomorrow and, after that, Bafana have friendly games against Germany and the Republic of Ireland.
Good news from the Bafana camp is that Santana is set to join the squad on Tuesday.
The coach was back home on holiday in Brazil - after the Confederations Cup - but was then struck down with bad case of pneumonia.
There were initial fears that Santana would be prohibited from travelling, because of the worldwide swine flu scare, and that the coach would not make it to tomorrow's game.
But the SA Football Association said Santana was cleared to travel to South Africa and would take his place on the Bafana bench.
"Santana has been cleared by his doctor and will travel to South Africa to resume his duties with the national team," a Safa statement said. "After a medical check-up in Rio de Janeiro yesterday, the coach has been declared fit to fly and he will arrive at the Bafana camp today to take charge of the team."
In Santana's absence, the Bafana squad was prepared by the two assistant-coaches, Pitso Mosimane and Jairo Leal.
Mosimane, 45, in his playing days turned out for Jomo Cosmos and Mamelodi Sundowns, as well as an extended spell for Ionikos in Greece. He also has four Bafana caps to his name.
Before taking up the Bafana assistant-coach position, he was the head coach of SuperSport United.
Leal, also a Brazilian, was brought to South Africa by former Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. When Parreira left, Leal was asked to remain to assist Santana.
Leal explained why the upcoming friendlies were so critical for Bafana.
"This is an important part of our build-up for the 2010 football showpiece," Leal told reporters. "We need as many competitive matches as possible before June next year to prepare the side.
"We have done our homework and have analysed a number of Serbia's World Cup qualifying matches. I believe they will prove to be very tough opponents.
"But they are the sort of opposition we need to keep our players sharp and prepared."
Serbia have omitted a few of their star players - like Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic and Inter Milan's Dejan Stankovic - but they are still expected to provide Bafana with a major challenge.
Most of their players perform in the top leagues in Europe, in Italy, Germany and England.
Serbia are currently enjoying a cracking good run in their World Cup qualifying group, where they lead the standings ahead of former World Champions France.
posted @ 9:00 PM,
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