Parreira has arrived!
5 November 2009, 09:45
The second coming of Carlos Alberto Parreira began officially early Thursday morning as he strode into OR Tambo international airport to again take up the helm of Bafana Bafana.
Smartly dressed in a matching jacket and trousers, and looking relatively fresh-faced after a long flight from Brazil, the 66 year old Rio De Janeiro native pronounced himself "very happy to be here", before being escorted into a white Mercedes and whizzed off to Sandton, which will be his home from home for the next few months.
Parreira will be in charge of the South African national team until the end of the 2010 World Cup, and faces a difficult task in reviving the morale of a side that has lost eight of its last nine internationals, and has slumped to 85th in the Fifa World Rankings.
The Brazilian, who is again expected to earn an salary of R1.8 million a month, will also have to win over the South African public, many of whom were against his return to a post he resigned from in March 2008, to return home to Brazil to attend to his sick wife, Leila. It was widely hoped that Safa would appoint a local coach, rather than turn to a man whose first spell in charge of Bafana garnered average results at best.
Parreira was expected to attend a lunchtime press conference to announce the Bafana squad for friendlies against Japan in Port Elizabeth on November 14, and Jamaica in Bloemfontein on November 17.
The South African Football Association, however, have said that Parreira will not be discussing the Bafana squad, which is set to be announced by his assistants, Pitso Mosimane and Jairo Leal.
The Bafana coach will instead hold his own press conference in Johannesburg on Friday.
Pretoria
