|
Parreira starting to feel the weight of expectations
Mninawa Ntloko
THE burden of a nation's high expectations appears to be weighing down
heavily on increasingly pressured national soccer team coach Carlos Alberto
Parreira's mind as he contemplates how to negotiate a safe passage through
what will be a leap into the great unknown tomorrow afternoon.
The stakes could not be higher and Parreira admitted that he was starting
to feel the pressure ahead of this potentially treacherous away 2008 African
Nations Cup qualifier against a Chad side that he 'frustratingly' still
does not know very much about.
'The mounting expectations are starting to make me a little bit anxious,'
he said. 'Everywhere I go, people tell me we have to win against Chad
at all cost.'
Parreira is well aware that the footballing world will be watching his
first official outing as Bafana coach with keen interest as some expect
him to magically transform the 2010 Soccer World Cup hosts into a competitive
side overnight.
This first fixture has even attracted attention from his many critics
back home in his native Brazil, who are all ready to hurl the first missiles
of criticism if he does not get his career as South African coach off
to a flying start.
The Brazilian is also well aware there are even more critics in SA itself
who are just waiting for things to go wrong before his much-debated R1,8m-a-month
salary is used to criticise him.
All of these have turned this encounter into a must-win situation for
the Brazilian as he knows that success in a tricky away qualifier will
buy him time to implement his ideas in peace.
He will be pleased to know that the veterans he has elected to go into
the trenches with are all ready for this task and are not daunted even
by reports of instability in the central African region in which Chad
is located.
Midfield strongman MacBeth Sibaya said his experiences on the continent
with Bafana over the years had made him immune to whatever conditions
they might encounter in N'Djamena.
'I have come to accept that the odds of finding pitches anything close
to what we have in SA are next to nothing when we travel on the continent,'
he said.
'In fact, I am no longer even bothered by the state of the pitches we
find during our travels and I have made peace with them.
'We simply have to work very hard against these guys and overcome whatever
challenges they throw at us. Lets us face it, we will have to fight for
the full 90 minutes to get the three points because we are not going to
receive any favours from Chad.'
Sibaya said he was thrilled to be part of this historic squad that will
always be remembered as Parreira's first official match, and more importantly
as the birth of the 2010 World Cup squad.
'Even if I am no longer in the team during the 2010 World Cup, I am still
going to be proud that I was a part of the rebuilding process that gave
birth to whatever side will represent the country in three years' time.'
The players looked committed at training this week and recognised the
fact that the conditions in Chad will be a lot less accommodating than
the lush facilities they utilised at Marks Park.
BAFANA BAFANA SQUAD
GOALKEEPERS: Rowen Fernandez (Kaizer Chiefs), Moeneeb Josephs (Bidvest
Wits)
DEFENDERS: Jimmy Tau and Cyril Nzama (both Chiefs), Ricardo Katza (Supersport
United), Benson Mhlongo (Mamelodi Sundowns), Aaron Mokoena (Blackburn
Rovers), Nasief Morris (Panathinaikos), Lucas Thwala (Orlando Pirates)
MIDFIELDERS: Delron Buckley (Basel), Surprise Moriri and Godfrey Sapula
(Sundowns), Siyabonga Nkosi (Chiefs), Steven Pienaar (Borussia Dortmund),
MacBeth Sibaya (Rubin Kazan), Elrio van Heerden (Club Bruges), Benedict
Vilakazi (Pirates), Sibusiso Zuma (Arminia Bielefeld).
STRIKERS: Siyabonga Nomvete (Aalborg), Thembinkosi Fanteni (Ajax Cape
Town).
Business
Day, 23 March 2007.
|
|
