After Bafana Bafana’s dismal display against Nigeria in their final Group A clash in the Chan 2014 competition, SAFA has announced major changes to the entire international team set-up, which could include doing away with the popular name itself.
Other issues that dominated a press conference held at the Cape Sun Hotel where the team has been staying for the past weeks, were the importance of building a fresh team from scratch, the possibility of coach, Gordon Igesund and his technical team getting the sack, and players needing to show proper respect for their national jersey.
SAFA President, Danny Jordaan, did not mince his words when talking about a “comprehensive review” of everything related to our poor performing national team.
He spoke at length on all the issues pertaining to the struggling side, promising a complete overall and sharing his vision of starting afresh, while comparing ourselves with five-time World Champions, Brazil.
“When Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, who won the World Cup in 1994, took charge, the first thing he did was give his players a lecture on the myth of the yellow shirt, asking them a number of questions. What it meant to put the shirt on? What was the philosophy, intention of what they were trying to achieve? Why is it important?
“You don’t just put the jersey on then decide which way to run and sometimes not run at all. So we have to get the basics right from a technical standpoint. Nigeria came here, they’ve won the U17 World Cup, won the Olympics in 1996. You can see this is a country that walks the path and we need to do the same.”
Jordaan also spoke about new players, colours and a new team name.
“We have to find a new technical sponsor for the jersey. Need to discuss maybe a new name, review the preparation, philosophy and technical staff. In the next month or so there’ll be a comprehensive review of how we put our national team on the field,” he concluded.
Do you agree with Danny Jordaan's sentiments pertaining the team?