Parreira excited by South Africa 2010 challenge
by Mark Gleeson
Reuters in Johannesburg
05.09.2006

New South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said he was excited by the opportunity of taking charge of the country's team for the 2010 World Cup but warned of big challenges ahead.

The Brazilian World Cup winner, who officially takes up his post in January, said South Africa faced a major rebuilding process that required patience and hard work.

"I have a big task to build the national team," Parreira said in an interview during a brief visit to watch the team play in Saturday's African Nations Cup qualifier, which South Africa drew 0-0 with Congo in Johannesburg.

"There is a potential among the players and with the right preparation we have a chance. But patience will be the key word," he cautioned. South Africa failed to qualify for this year's World Cup finals in Germany.

"The big picture for South Africa should be about the cup itself," said the 63-year-old coach, who took Brazil to World Cup success in the United States in 1994.

"It's not only about the football but there is a big responsibility to also represent Africa and to show the world the potential of the continent.

"Germany put on a beautiful face, the way they received visitors to this year's World Cup...and in every aspect of the organisation."

Parreira said South Africa, the first African country to host the World Cup finals, should strive for the same standards.

"There will be traps along the way and ups and downs but we mustn't lose sight of the bigger picture."

Winning mentality

Parreira said he had not had enough time to form a proper picture of South Africa's football standards but said the country, which will have automatic entry into the group stages of the 2010 World Cup as hosts, had to dream big.

"Our aim must be to get to the first (knockout) round of the World Cup and then to keep striving to go further and further in the tournament. There has to be a winning mentality."

He said he would try to organise high-profile matches for the team to play next year.

"We must test our strength against the top teams in the world, like Brazil, Germany and England."

Asked about his monthly salary of $250,000, which has been roundly condemned as obscenely high for the coach of an African team, Parreira said: "I don't want to become a problem. I want to come here and help. I'm not here for the money, I'm comfortable enough without the South African offer.

"I'm here for the pleasure of being the coach of the first African country to host the World Cup. This motivates me more than money. I get paid what I deserved to be paid, it's not the highest salary of a coach."

Parreira has signed a four-year contract and will take charge of his first match in March when South Africa play Chad in the Nations Cup qualifiers.

He said he would travel to Zambia next month to again watch the team when they play a second qualifying match, the last under caretaker coach Pitso Mosimane.

 

You cut & paste a lot.
Do you have any comments of your own?

 

You cut & paste a lot.
Do you have any comments of your own?

when I think it's worth commenting, yes I do. Do you have anything against my posting?

 

when I think it's worth commenting, yes I do. Do you have anything against my posting?

All the stuff you are posting is mostly what the journalist is telling you.
What do YOU think about the topic(s) you post on...that's my point. Cut/paste is easy, but surely you too have an opinion

 

$250,000? Wow he better have a winning team by 2008 or the SAFA will be peeved that they cannot win a tournament with so much investment and faith in one man.

 

Well the FA should know thats it not one coach that will change the fortunes of the team, you have to look at whats wrong with the system as a whole if you want change! In any case, I hope South Africa go far in the World Cup, the local fans deserve it.

 

All the stuff you are posting is mostly what the journalist is telling you.
What do YOU think about the topic(s) you post on...that's my point. Cut/paste is easy, but surely you too have an opinion

If I feel I need to give my opinion about something I surely do it, if not I am simply a messenger. Those that are interested in African Football can know, through my posts, what's going on in African Football.
If you are so well informed and do not need to read my posts please don't, but give me a break will you?

 

Come on guys, no need to attack each other eh..

@Kwame: I'm sure if he has something to comment on, he'll do that. If not, it is just an article and a source of information for the others.

@Filipe: I don't think Kwame meant it in an offensive way. Surely he is just interested in your own viewpoint as an addition to the article.

 

FIFA chief aims to fire up slow South Africa for 2010 World Cup
AFP in Zurich
15.09.2006

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said that he will visit South Africa shortly to urge lawmakers to speed up building work for the 2010 World Cup, amid growing concern about delays.

Blatter said he would meet South African President Thabo Mbeki and make an appeal to the country's parliament "to explain the value of the World Cup and to fire up the organising committee, because it's the last moment to start building five stadiums.

"For the moment they have plans, money, and decisions, but I have yet to see the pickaxes and spades needed to start the work," he told journalists after a meeting of world governing body's executive committee.

A FIFA spokesman was unable to give a date for the planned visit by the delegation from world football's governing body.

Blatter hoped that the work would get underway before the end of the year, and said the South Africans had to be trusted.

The FIFA chief also advised the South Africans not to take up offers of help from British, French, German, or other experts involved in organising previous World Cups.

"If there are too many cooks, it spoils the broth," he commented.

Senior municipal officials in the nine cities which are to host the 2010 World Cup accused the South African government and lawmakers last month of hampering their preparations.

The officials told a parliamentary committee they were still in the dark about the amount of money they would receive for the tournament.

They also complained that legislation on tendering contracts threatened to derail their organisation efforts.
------------------------------------------------------

FIFA's broth only have one cook and look at the taste of it... :rollani:

 

Come on guys, no need to attack each other eh..

@Kwame: I'm sure if he has something to comment on, he'll do that. If not, it is just an article and a source of information for the others.

@Filipe: I don't think Kwame meant it in an offensive way. Surely he is just interested in your own viewpoint as an addition to the article.

Thanks for the clarification....I just find it berra to read what Africans (and non-Africans for that matter) think of our football, not just regurgitating what some journalist has spent 5 minutes typing up

 

Thanks for the clarification....I just find it berra to read what Africans (and non-Africans for that matter) think of our football, not just regurgitating what some journalist has spent 5 minutes typing up

I definitely think you're right although it is also very often berra to read what journalists that take more than 5 minutes to type have to say than to read what some wannabe scribbler (African or not) regurgitates on a footie forum.

 

South Africa will be ready by 2010: World Cup chief
AFP in Johannesburg
September 21, 2006

Claims that South Africa's preparations for the 2010 World Cup were lagging behind schedule have been dismissed by organising committee chief executive officer Danny Jordaan.

"We are ahead of schedule, and we will be ready," Jordaan told AFP.

His comments came after a volley of criticism in recent weeks from both home and abroad about the readiness of his team to stage the first ever World Cup in Africa.

German football legend Franz Beckenbauer, Jordaan's counterpart in this year's finals, this week became the latest high-profile figure to raise question marks about the tournament saying it was "beset by big problems".

FIFA president Sepp Blatter also revealed last week that he planned to visit South Africa shortly "to fire up the organising committee."

Jordaan dismissed Beckenbauer's comments, saying his criticism was devoid of detail and there was no need to press panic button.

"He is not telling us what the problem is... We will write him a letter so that he can explain what the problem was about," said Jordaan who masterminded South Africa's bid to host the 2010 finals as well as the unsuccessful campaign to host this year's tournament.

Blatter also voiced concerns that construction and renovation of the 10 stadia due to stage the matches had yet to begin in earnest, saying that he had "yet to see the pickaxes and spades needed to start the work."

Jordaan, who said no firm date had been arranged for a meeting with Blatter, deflected suggestions that the stadia would not be ready for kick-off.

"We have the stadia, the infrastructure is in place and we also have the backing of FIFA and the government," he said. "All of us will be working towards the success of the tournament."

Senior municipal officials in the nine host cities accused the South African government and lawmakers last month of hampering their preparations.

The officials told a parliamentary committee they were still in the dark about the amount of money they would receive for the tournament.

They also complained that legislation on tendering contracts threatened to derail their organisation efforts.

 

South Africa to boost housing for 2010 World Cup

by Clare Nullis, Associated Press in Johannesburg
October 12, 2006

South Africa will encourage soccer fans to stay at small guesthouses in sprawling city townships during the 2010 World Cup as a way to accommodate the influx of visitors.

South Africa is preparing to become the first African nation to host the prestigious event. More than $22 million will be spent to provide extra rooms for the 3.5 million people expected, Tourist Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said Thursday.

"We are delivering on our promise to ensure that participants in the 2010 World Cup will be treated to a uniquely African experience," Van Schalkwyk said during a workshop. "For the first time ever (in World Cup), nonhotel accommodation such as national park accommodation, lodges, guesthouses, and bed and breakfasts will also be contracted."

This would include "properly graded hotels and lodges" in townships like Soweto -- just outside Johannesburg and a symbol of resistance to the former apartheid regime.

Van Schalkwyk said Bloemfontein, Nelspruit and Polokwane -- all to host first-round games -- were struggling to fill their quota of rooms and would get financial help from the new funds.

The government has earmarked about $665 million for building and renovating 10 stadiums -- including six new ones -- and a further $1.2 billion on airports, roads and railway lines.

The finance ministry is expected to give more funding details during a visit to South Africa this month by a FIFA delegation.

 

Blatter says 2010 World Cup will stay in South Africa
Reuters in Sydney
29.10.2006

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has dismissed suggestions the 2010 World Cup could be moved from South Africa to another country, insisting the event will proceed as planned.

Rumours have been circulating in the media for months that FIFA were looking for an alternative host country because of concerns South Africa had fallen hopelessly behind in their preparations.

But Blatter, in an interview broadcast on Australian television network SBS on Sunday, said the speculation was wrong and the tournament would remain in South Africa.

"They will be ready, no problems they will be ready," Blatter said.

"The plan C and B in my opinion is still South Africa."

Australia had been suggested as a possible option after local soccer officials announced they would be willing to take over the running of the 2010 tournament, but Blatter said Australia would have to wait their turn.

The 2014 World Cup has already been promised to South America, leaving 2018 as the earliest opportunity Australia could even lodge a bid to stage the tournament.

"Australia shall be an option for organising the next World Cup after 2014," Blatter said.

"Australia can also be an option to take one of the big youth competitions of FIFA, for instance the under-20 World Cup.

"This is now something that Australia should be attached to... but definitely not from South Africa."

 

FIFA happy with South Africa's 2010 World Cup progress
AFP in Johannesburg
November 22, 2006

A delegation of FIFA officials have expressed satisfaction with South Africa's preparations for the 2010 World Cup, declaring they had made more rapid progress than their German predecessors.

"FIFA is very happy and satisfied with the progress made," Horst Schmidt, who is to take up a new post as FIFA's coordinator in South Africa, said Wednesday.

"Not only is the country on time, but a bit ahead of Germany at the same time. We are happy with preparations and now it's for the Local Organising Committee to maintain the momentum," added the German who was one of the driving forces behind this year's tournament in his homeland.

Schmidt was part of a delegation, which also included FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi and marketing director Jerome Valcke, who have been briefed since the start of the week on preparations for the first ever World Cup in Africa.

Schmidt told reporters that the main focus was on the progress being made on building and upgrading the 10 stadia which are to host the tournament.

"After evaluating the plans for the construction of the stadiums, we were satisfied that there is enough time to construct, equip, and test the stadiums before the day of the kick-off. The task ahead becomes very clear," he said.

The delegation's verdict after the visit serves as a significant boost to the local organisers after concerns expressed by FIFA president Sepp Blatter who said in September that he needed "to fire up the organising committee."

Irvin Khoza, chairman of the local organising committee said he was happy with "FIFA's vote of confidence."

"The schedule will be met as proposed and come the first quarter of next year, construction must start," he said at a press conference in Johannesburg.

President Thabo Mbeki pledged last month that South Africa would confound international sceptics by meeting its deadlines and staging a well-oiled World Cup.

 

Sounds like South Africa is making great strides. I hope I can attend this World Cup

 

South African organisers on schedule
AFP in Berlin
March 22, 2007

Horst R. Schmidt, the man responsible for ensuring the 2010 World Cup runs smoothly, said the South African organisers were 'on schedule', quashing rumours the event was running into problems.

The 65-year-old, the vice-president of the 2006 World Cup's organising committee, said he had no doubts the event would be a success.

"It's clear to me that the South African event will be well-organised," Schmidt told Thursday's German daily Tagesspiegel, quashing rumours the event was hitting building and renovation problems.

"There were certainly some difficulties initially in the building of stadiums, but now everything is on schedule.

"I do not doubt for a second that the World Cup will take place in South Africa, it will be a different World Cup from the one which took place last summer in Germany, but it will certainly not be any less impressive," added Schmidt, who is also general secretary of the German Football Federation (DFB).

 

To someone who knows how are the south african team doining are they looking good or not.

 

No they're not. They lost 1-0 against Bolivia at home this past week.

 

I'll be there ... or so I hope!!
Please read my blog: www.roadto2010final.blogspot.com

 

Who looks like some of there future stars.

 

World Cup looks good for Africa, apart from on the pitch
by Mitch Phillips in London for Reuters
20.08.2007


Everything is on course for a wonderful first World Cup in Africa, apart from on the pitch where the continent's teams continue to struggle at the top level, the local head of the 2010 tournament said.

Danny Jordaan, chief of the South African event's organizing committee, said stadium development was on schedule, sponsorship and TV rights income was already guaranteed to surpass that of 2006 and tourism in the country continued to grow despite one of the world's highest crime rates.

However, he conceded that African nations were failing to establish any consistency of playing performance and that action was needed to ensure a local presence in the latter stages of the first World Cup to be held on African soil.

"We have two completion dates. By December 2008 we will have the five stadia we need for the (2009) Confederations Cup -- four of those are ready today," Jordaan told a briefing at the South African High Commission in London.

"Then we have to build the new stadiums by October 2009. If we complete all the stadiums on the time we will be the first country to have done so.

"Remember the paint was still wet for the Athens Olympics while the new Wembley here was not without problems.

MAJOR EVENTS

"Yes we have crime, there are challenges, but our ability to safeguard all of our visitors coming to our major events has been tested over last 13 years and there has not been a single incident and tourist figures have grown every year."

Jordaan said the 2010 tournament had already secured $3.2 million worth of sponsorship, compared to the $2.8 million for the 2006 event in Germany, while the TV rights had surpassed the $1 billion of last year's tournament.

He added that, inspired by the success of Germany's fan parks, 2010 organizers planned to expand the concept not only to non-hosting cities in South Africa but had asked FIFA to investigate the possibility of allowing cities all over the world, and particularly throughout Africa, to set up "unofficial" fan parks.

However, when it came to a discussion about African prospects of success on the pitch in three years' time, Jordaan was less effusive.

Spotlighting teams who have done well in the Olympics and African Nations Cup but failed to make an impact at the World Cup, where only Cameroon (1990) and Senegal (2002) have reached the quarter-finals, Jordaan highlighted the difference in support structures.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

"In an analysis of the kinds of technical, medical and scientific support available for the best teams in the world against African teams, there is a huge gap," he said.

"They have physios, dieticians, doctors and so on ... it's not just running on to the field and playing.

"Very often you find African players have recurring injuries because of inappropriate treatment. It is an area we have to look at and in November we have a medical conference focusing on medical support for African teams."

South Africa, struggling internationally since their peak in the mid-1990s, have followed many of the continental partners by employing a foreign coach -- Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira -- but Jordaan said he felt that trend was one of the reasons for the teams' failures.

Quoting a "professor of football" he met in Cuba, Jordaan said: "He told me 'You cannot beat anyone who you admire, who you have as an idol'.

"'You have to find your own heroes. When a team stands there with hands on heart and sings the national anthem and the coach can't sing it, the players know.'

"These are the sort of issues we need to probe."

 

FIFA praises South Africa's progress in building stadiums for 2010 World Cup
October 10, 2007
AP in Cape Town

FIFA ended a three-day inspection tour of South Africa on Wednesday and praised the progress being made in building stadiums that will be used for the 2010 World Cup.

The governing body of world football, joined by South African organizers, visited four of the nine host cities to assess stadiums in Johannesburg, the site of the opening and final match, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.

The delegation also received progress reports on accommodations, finances and transportation.

"We were able to see signs of huge transformation in the host cities. The task ahead is a big one and we admire the ambition and efforts in the host cities to make 2010 a successful event," said Alain Leiblang, FIFA's head of media operation for the 2010 World Cup.

There have been concerns about the country's high crime rate and poor transportation system, as well as the pace of stadium construction.

"We are quite happy that the program is on track. What we set out to do with this inspection tour, we achieved," local organizing committee representative Dennis Mumble said in a statement. "There are challenges and adjustments that need to be made, but that's the reason for tours such as this, to address those."

 

Mozambique eyes World Cup windfall in 2010
by Charles Mangwiro for Reuters in Pemba, Mozambique
12.11.2007

Mozambique's proximity to South Africa and lower crime rate makes it a perfect staging ground for football teams and their fans during the 2010 World Cup, a senior Mozambican official said on Monday.

Deputy Minister of Tourism Rosário Mualeia told Reuters that the impoverished southern African nation hoped to lure to its shores at least 150,000 tourists, or about one third of those expected to visit host nation South Africa during the World Cup.

Mozambique, which is known for its pristine sandy beaches and quaint colonial cities, is also negotiating to host training and base camps for some of the teams that will qualify for the finals.

"We are near to South Africa and the crime rate in Mozambique is not as high as the host nation," Mualeia said in an interview in the northern Mozambican city Pemba.

"Many fans would prefer to be in a quiet place and Mozambique has the environment for that."

Unlike South Africa, which is grappling with one of the world's highest levels of violent crime, Mozambique is generally seen as a safe tourist destination in Africa, with attacks on foreigners a rare occurrence.

The Mozambican government plans to spend at least $600 million on hotels, casinos and other leisure facilities as part of an effort to capitalise on the tourism boom expected during the one-month World Cup, which begins on June 11, 2010.

Although one of the world's poorest countries, Mozambique is experiencing an economic boom, and tourism revenues have provided crucial foreign exchange for the government's public works programmes.

The bulk of Mozambique's infrastructure, particularly its roads and ports, were destroyed during a 17-year civil war that ended in 1992.

"We expect to earn more than $150 million from tourism this year and to double that in four years as more Europeans discover sand and sun in Mozambique," Mualeia said. Tourism generated $144 million for the former Portuguese colony in 2006.

The bulk of the country's visitors come from South Africa, Italy, Germany and a handful of other nations.