Can Santana cling on to South Africa job?

October 17, 2009

South Africa coach Joel Santana has been given two more games to show progress with his side or face being fired just six months before the country hosts the 2010 World Cup finals.

A growing clamour for the departure of the 60-year-old, who came into the job 18 months ago after Carlos Alberto Parreira was forced to quit because of his wife’s illness, has been given momentum by two lethargic performances in Norway and Iceland.

Bafana Bafana lost both games 1-0 and have now been defeated in eight of their last nine matches –- the only positive was a hastily-arranged match against Madagascar last month that could barely be called a proper international but which South Africa won 1-0 to help massage the stark statistics.

This year, South Africa have scored 10 goals in 16 internationals and remain toothless upfront.

Santana is now facing a cacophony of calls for the return of Benni McCarthy, the country’s most controversial sportsman. Without a proven goalscorer he is in demand again, although Santana refuses to pick what he feels is a disruptive influence on his group.

The recent election of South African Football Association president Kirsten Nematandani initially spelt doom for Santana. Nematandani’s campaign manifesto included a promise to get rid of the unpopular Brazilian but since taking office he has tempered his stance.

The first step towards his possible dismissal by the year-end is the appointment of a group of three ‘assessors’ who will decide whether Santana is making any progress or not.

The trio is made up of two former `Bafana coaches – Jomo Sono and Clive Barker – and Gavin Hunt, who has led SuperSport United to the last two South African Premier League titles.

The ‘assessors’ won’t be making any recommendations on Santana’s competency until after the next warm-up games at home to Japan on Nov. 14 and Jamaica three days later.

Santana has done himself no favours by trotting out the same old excuses every time the team loses. Among them is a reminder that Germany, too, struggled in their build up to the 2006 World Cup finals which they hosted.

“And look how well they then went on to do,” Santana tells reporters.

But few believe South Africa have any chance of getting anywhere near the knockout round next June, nevermind the semi-final.

PHOTO: South Africa coach Joel Santana reacts at the end of their international friendly soccer match against Serbia at the Super stadium in Pretoria August 12, 2009. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

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Tags: association president, bafana bafana, benni mccarthy, cacophony, carlos alberto, Carlos Alberto Parreira, clive barker, competency, disruptive influence, favours, Gavin Hunt, Germany, Iceland, internationals, Jamaica, Japan, Joel Santana, Madagascar, pretoria, santana, South Africa, south africa coach, south african football, south african football association, south african premier league, warm up games, world cup finals

Friendly failures may spell end for SAfrica coach

October 10, 2009

World Cup hosts South Africa could dump Brazilian coach Joel Santana if they suffer embarrassing friendly defeats in Norway Saturday and Iceland three days later.

Santana has been under public, media and official fire after six losses in seven outings with the sole success coming via a solitary goal at home to African featherweights Madagascar last month.

The national football association reacted by naming three “assessors” – former national coaches Clive Barker and Jomo Sono and top South African Premiership coach Gavin Hunt – to report on the national team.

This heightened a rumour mill already awash with names of possible new coaches, including Santana predecessor Carlos Alberto Parreira and recently fired Poland coach Leon Beenhakker.

While some believe it is far too late for the South African ship to change skippers, they ignore a history of last-minute upheaval ahead of World Cup tournaments.

Fiery Frenchman Philippe Troussier replaced Barker just three months before the 1998 World Cup in his homeland and Sono succeeded Portuguese Carlos Queiroz 12 weeks ahead of the 2002 tournament.

South Africa were eliminated after the first round on both occasions, failed to reach the 2006 finals in Germany, and made it to 2010 because the host nation qualifies automatically.

National association spokesman Raymond Hack attempted to douse the flames of discontent this week by saying the future of 200,000-dollar-a-month Santana had not even been discussed.

But well-placed sources speaking on condition of anonymity suggested the 60-year-old Brazilian who rarely speaks English publicly is already on the plank, sharks are circling, and what happens in northern Europe is irrelevant.

Experienced midfield enforcer Benson Mhlongo raised a serious concern: “The players are aware of the pressure. I can handle it but I’m worried about the younger members of our squad.”

And striker Katlego Mphela conceded Santana media speculation was affecting morale: “Talk about the coach has become such a distraction for us. Things are so intense sometimes we do not know what to expect the next day.”

Anger at the coach with no national team experience before taking charge of Bafana Bafana (The Boys) in mid-2008 soared after losses in Germany and the Republic of Ireland last month.

No realistic South African supporter expected a team ranked 73 in the world to win in Leverkusen but the timid 2-0 surrender only emboldened the anti-Santana brigade, as did a one-goal defeat in Limerick three days later.

Up against a virtual Irish B team, Bafana enjoyed 70 percent possession without managing to create a single clearcut chance and a first-half goal direct from a free kick settled a lacklustre friendly.

The ‘charge sheet’ against Santana, whose only competitive victories in 11 games have come against Equatorial Guinea and New Zealand, centres on a defence that cannot keep clean sheets and an attack blunter than a rusty knife.

Lady luck jilts Santana, too. When Mphela scored twice against mighty Spain in the 2009 Confederations Cup third-place play-off, uncharacteristic blunders by goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune condemned the host nation to a 3-2 loss.

South Africa defeated Norway 2-1 in scorching Rustenburg last March but are likely to find the reception in Oslo cooler all round while a previous visit to Reykjavik ended in a humiliating 4-1 reverse.

JOHANNESBURG (AFP)