Sports
2010 World Cup: Parreira Hopeful Of Bafana Bafana’s Qualification
Two home game, two goalless draw: that is the record Carlos Alberto Parreira holds since his recent return to the South Africa hot-seat following an 18-month recess.
However, not even those lackluster results against Japan and Jamaica have dampened the Brazilian coach’s belief that Bafana Bafana will be a force to be reckoned with at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.
“I see light at the end of the tunnel,” Parreira told Tidesports source. “When we have this team up to a good level of fitness, they will prove far more competitive.
This side has played at a high level before. When I worked here the first time we beat Paraguay 3-0, and that’s the standard I want the team to get back to.
“The matches against Brazil and Spain this year [single-goal defeats at the FIFA Confederations Cup] also showed what we can do when the team is ready. When the key players are in good shape and fit, the standard of the team will improve quickly. I have no doubt about it.”
Parreira admitted he was desperate for a victory to mark his return to the helm, and the side’s return to winning ways following a poor run of form under his predecessor Joel Santana.
“It would have been really good to have won and I’m disappointed we didn’t,” he lamented. “The results didn’t help, they didn’t make me happy. But I was happy with the performance during the two games. Now we have to think about the future.”
The 66-year-old will now turn his focus to a training camp in his native Brazil in March, when he will have four weeks to work with his squad, albeit without those based with European dubs. Encouragingly, South Africa’s domestic season is being curtailed to afford Parreira more time with his charges ahead of the 19th edition of the FIFA World Cup.
“We’ll be able to get them into good shape,” he vowed. “They will be with us for four weeks. We are going to go to Brazil. We are hoping to play about six games against good opposition. It is going to be very beneficial.
“We have to believe in the players we have. We have to keep the confidence and play to our strengths. Ball possession is important: keeping the ball, circulating it on the ground, playing possession football. It was very dear that when we do this we are a much better team.
“Of course, if you include our fullbacks overlapping, it is even better. In our system, we need overlapping fullbacks. We love to see our fullbacks supporting and overlapping. You don’t attack only with one striker, you attack as a team.”
Parreira was not in charge during South Africa’s run to the semi-finals of the FIFA Confederations Cup in June, but says he saw enough there to know there is hope.
“You have to count the Confederations Cup as a starting point. The players had been together for a while, they were very fit. That’s what will happen before the World Cup too.”
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.