The South African Football Association (Safa) has made it clear: it wants success and longevity from the new Bafana Bafana manager.
After months of consideration, the football body will this afternoon announce the new manager of the national team following the departure of Gordon Igesund.
Although Safa has remained tight-lipped on who is in line to succeed Igesund, it has been reported that former Real Madrid manager Carlos Queiroz is the favourite to land the job.
The Portuguese national coached South Africa for two years from 2000, only to be fired after qualifying Bafana Bafana for the 2002 World Cup.
Reports this week suggested that Safa had already officially offered the Queiroz the job. But money seems to be the biggest stumbling block.
Iran have offered Queiroz, who quit as coach of their national team after they were knocked out of the World Cup in Brazil, a new deal to reconsider and continue as coach.
Queiroz has reportedly asked for about R1.6 million a month to sign for Bafana. This is four times the amount earned by the outgoing Igesund.
Although Jordaan is keen on Queiroz, he has said he will not become involved in a “bidding war” with Iran.
Nigeria World Cup coach Stephen Keshi and South Africa youth coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba are considered the other main candidates.
The football body’s main aim is to be among the top three countries in Africa and top 20 in the world by 2022.
Bafana Bafana’s past three managers:
Gordon Igesund
Period as Bafana manager: July 2012-August this year. Salary a month: R400 000
Performance: of the 32 games in charge, Igesund won 14 of those, drawing nine and losing nine. Igesund had a 48 percent win ratio, which is the fourth-best of any Bafana coach behind Shakes Mashaba (63 percent), Barker (51 percent) and Moloto (50 percent).
Although Igesund’s win ratio is up there with the best, the mandate handed to him by Safa was unrealistic. He was asked to qualify for this year’s World Cup as well as to achieve a semi-final spot at last year’s Africa Cup of Nations. Given the short space of time, it would be tough for any manager to achieve that with a Bafana team who have slid down the ranks at a rapid rate.
Pitso Mosimane:
Period as Bafana manager: July 2010- June 2012 Salary a month: R800 000
Performance: of the 16 games in charge of the national team, Mosimane won six of his games, lost three, and drew seven games. He took over from Carlos Alberto Parreira after the 2010 World Cup, and the early results under him were good.
In his first nine matches in charge, South Africa won six times, drew twice and lost 1-0 to the USA.
Since then, August 2011, Bafana played seven matches of which they won none, drew five and lost two. They scored only four goals in those games, three of which ended in goalless draws.
A poor goal-scoring record was the facet of play that Mosimane never managed to improve while in charge of South Africa.
Carlos Alberto Parreira:
Period: October 2009-June 2010 Salary a month: it was reported that the Brazilian earned close to a R1m a month, although Safa refused to confirm how much Parreira earned during his second stint as Bafana Bafana coach
Performance: under Parreira, Bafana Bafana’s fortunes improved dramatically. By the time the World Cup arrived the team was on a 12-match unbeaten run.
Thailand were handed a 4-0 hiding and Guatemala were then on the wrong end of a 5-0 result, which was South Africa’s biggest win yet, in captain Aaron Mokoena’s 100th international.
At the 2010 World Cup, Parreira’s Bafana put up a strong fight, but did not do enough to make it through to the second round of the soccer spectacle. Bafana’s opening game saw them draw to Mexico. In their second game they endured a heavy defeat to Uruguay and in their final game against France, they defeated Les Bleus 2-1.
This was to be Parreira’s last game in charge of Bafana Bafana.
Thanks to their much- improved form under the Brazilian, and their results in the World Cup, they improved from 83rd place in the Fifa World Rankings before the World Cup to 66th place after its completion.
Incoming manager:
Most likely candidates Carlos Queiroz, Stephen Keshi, Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba Salary: Safa would not indicate whether the new manager for the national team would be earning more than outgoing manager Gordon Igesund. Safa said salary issues were confidential matters.
Expectation of the new manager from Safa:
Dominic Chimhavi, spokesman for Safa: “We have appointed the most suitable candidate – a national coach who will take Bafana Bafana back to the top.
“South Africans love Bafana Bafana and they want the team to succeed and by succeeding it means qualifying and doing well in major tournaments.
“Our Vision 2022 is that Bafana Bafana should strive to be constantly among the top three countries in Africa and top 20 in the world.”
Some of the set criteria that the coach should possess:
Possess a pro-coaching licence.
Have a proven international track record.
Most importantly, have an understanding of South African players. - Saturday Star