Jonathan Wilson / Jonathan Wilson / 29 October 2009 / Leave a comment

Things aren't looking so good for the host nation with the World Cup just a few months away, says Jonathan Wilson, despite the presence of a record-breaking Brazilian in the dugout

"South Africa will be seeded by virtue of being hosts next summer, but they will not even be in Angola, so bad has been their recent form. There is a genuine possibility that they might be embarrassed, and yet in the Confederations Cup in the summer they looked a solid if unspectacular side."

Bora Milutinovic, you imagine, is fuming. The re-appointment of Carlos Alberto Parreira as coach of South Africa means that the Brazilian will equal Milutinovic's record of having coached five different teams at the World Cup, and also removes one of the countries with whom he could possibly have found a job before next summer.

Milutinovic may be 64, but he still dreams of a sixth tournament, and he clearly regards Parreira as a rival. "They say he is a genius because he has won a World Cup," he said.

"He is Brazilian. It's easy to win World Cup with Brazil. Me? I'm from Serbia. What is Serbia? To win the World Cup no chance.

"But look at his record with little teams. With Kuwait in 82: lose, lose, lose; [United Arab] Emirates in 90: lose, lose, lose, Saudi Arabia in 98, lose, lose then they sack him before the last game. He wins the World Cup with Brazil in 94, but with the little teams, eight games, eight times he loses.

"But Bora: 86, Mexico, quarter-final; 90, Costa Rica, second round; 94, USA, second round; 98, Nigeria second round; 2002, China we qualify for first time."

He does, perhaps, have a point and not just because World Cups are brighter places when they ring with his infectious laughter, boundless enthusiasm and profanity-laden digressions.

Milutinovic, presumably, will tout himself around those countries who have qualified for the World Cup but whose coach seems insecure (for him to replace Kim Jong-Hu, whose position in charge of North Korea seems precarious, would be almost too perfect). He will be there at the African Cup of Nations in Angola, hovering in the background, waiting to pounce of any of the World Cup qualifiers should find themselves in difficulty. But Parreira is sure of his place despite his disappointing record.

South Africa will be seeded by virtue of being hosts next summer, but they will not even be in Angola, so bad has been their recent form.

There is a genuine possibility that they might be embarrassed, and yet in the Confederations Cup in the summer they looked a solid if unspectacular side. They not only got through the group stage (thanks to a draw against Iraq and a win over New Zealand, admittedly), but held Brazil for much of the semi-final.

They were limited but well-organised, and it was possible to imagine them, with a decent draw, grinding their way to the second round (they are [110.0] to win it).

The local media, though, bewilderingly turned against Joel Santana - who had replaced Parreira when he had to return to Brazil for family reasons - because he deployed two holding midfielders in MacBeth Sibaya and Kagisho Dikgacoi. This was - weirdly - decried as "old-fashioned" even though the use of two holders has been common at the top level for at least a decade. Brazil even used a 4-2-3-1 in winning the Confederations Cup in South Africa in the summer.

There were also those who suggested the system was over-negative, a betrayal of South Africa's piano-and-shoeshine tradition. But two holders liberates the other four players in the side - it permits the use of three trequartistas, which with Teko Modise and Steven Pienaar in the squad seems to play more to South Africa's strengths than any two-striker system.

Besides, if South Africans expect Parreira to encourage a more expansive game, they will be disappointed. He won the World Cup with Brazil playing a 4-2-2-2 with Dunga and Mauro Silva holding in front of the back four, and there is little reason to assume he will break up the Sibaya-Dikgacoi axis.

"We are pleading with the public to accept Parreira and let him prepare our team for the World Cup," said Kirsten Nonkonyana, the head of the South African Football Association.

"We are aware of what some leading football personalities and what the public are saying but we believe Parreira is the best choice to lead the team."

Yet Parreira failed to take South Africa through the group stages of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, and actually had a worse win-percentage than Santana, despite having faced ostensibly weaker opposition. Perhaps Milutinovic would have been the better choice; he would certainly have been more fun.

Tags: African Cup of Nations, Bora Milutinovic, Carlos Alberto Parreira, Confederations Cup, Joel Santana, Kagisho Dikgacoi, MacBeth Sibaya, South Africa, Steven Pienaar, Teko Modise