Joel Santana was appointed coach of South Africa’s national soccer team on Wednesday.
The Brazilian coach replaces Carlos Alberto Parreira, who resigned on Monday to be with his family and ill wife.
The South African Football Association said the appointment was made following a recommendation by Parreira and the acceptance of the job offer by Santana. The 59-year-old Santana is expected in South Africa on May 9, the organization said.
PHOTO: AP
Santana said taking over South Africa, the host country for the 2010 World Cup, was a “blessing.”
“I’m confident about the task ahead of me and I believe my experience in working with many top clubs will assist in preparing the team for the big challenge ahead,” Santana said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Flamengo said Santana would start coaching South Africa after their final playoff game against Botafogo for the Rio de Janeiro state championship on May 4.
Santana, who has coached Flamengo four times, was seen as a miracle worker last year after he took the club from the relegation zone to third place in the national tournament and a berth in the Copa Libertadores this year.
News that Parreira was to resign sent the national team into disarray two years before the country hosts the World Cup.
Parreira, who led Brazil to the 1994 World Cup title, was hired 16 months ago in a bid to revive the country’s struggling national team. He put together a young and inexperienced team that, after a series of poor results, was beginning to show some promise.
Parreira’s tactics of relying on domestic talent boosted by just a handful of foreign-based players, like Blackburn Rovers striker Benni McCarthy, seemed to be paying off when South Africa beat Paraguay 3-0 in a friendly last month.
Parreira said he recommended Santana because he was a “specialist in winning championships.”
“He has won many championships with big clubs in Brazil and has coached great Brazilian players like Romario, Bebeto and Juninho just to name a few,” Parreira said.
Parreira’s reported monthly salary of almost US$250,000 caused an outcry in a country battling poverty and unemployment. Reacting to the reports that Santana was to be appointed, Johannesburg daily newspaper the Star criticized the choice of a coach who has never run a national team and has been fired four times in two years. The newspaper reported that Santana will be earning nearly US$200,000 a month.
On Monday, Santana said the offer was too good to turn down.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime proposal,” Santana said.
“To compete in the World Cup is the dream of every [soccer] professional,” he said.
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