22 April 2008
Windhoek — South African soccer coach Carlos Alberto Parreira dropped a bombshell when he officially resigned from his N$1,8-million a month job yesterday.
The Brazilian winning World Cup coach was roped in by the South African Football Association (SAFA) 16 months ago with the sole mandate of preparing a competitive team for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.
However, the 65-year-old Parreira threw in the towel two years before the World Cup finals, saying he wants to return to his native Brazil to be closer with his ailing wife, his family and most of all, his grandchildren.
Despite a slow start that saw the Brazilian mentor experimenting with a young and relatively inexperienced squad, which suffered a string of poor results, Parreira was suddenly hailed as a "Messiah" by the often hard-to-please South African football fans and press after he steered Bafana Bafana to a historic win over Paraguay (3-0) in a recent international friendly on home soil.
It's not yet known who will replace Parreira, but the names of two Brazilian coaches Tele Santana and current Portugal coach Luis Scolari, as well as former England gaffer Sven-Goran Eriksson, are now prominently dangled in the face of SAFA.
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