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October 25, 2009

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Parreira back as Bafana-Bafana coach

Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira has been appointed South Africa coach for the 2010 World Cup finals, resuming a job he left 18 months ago, the country's football association announced on Friday.

Parreira is now on course to participate in a record sixth World Cup as coach after being named to succeed compatriot Joel Santana, who was fired last Monday after a run of poor results for the World Cup host in recent warm-up matches.

The 66-year-old Parreira was first approached in 2006 to build a competitive side for South Africa's hosting of the 2010 World Cup finals but quit after 21 matches in charge in April 2008 when his wife fell ill with cancer.

He returned to Rio de Janeiro to tend to her, recommending Santana in his place.

But Santana had little of the charisma of his compatriot and after 18 months was asked to step down after South Africa lost eight of its last nine matches and looked a listless team some eight months before the start of the World Cup.

"The reason for opting for Parreira so quickly is that we have a massive time constraint with the World Cup just around the corner," South African Football Association President Kirsten Nematandani said.



 

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