Can South Africa World Cup team win the football World Cup
South Africa is one of the 6 african nations in the 2010 World Cup. The host country will want to be in history by going past the group stage but they might make the history the wrong way: The Bafana Bafana might the first host not to make it past the group stage. It has never happened but it is very possible.
Can South Africa win the World Cup?
Winning a game would be already a great thing. Winning the tournament is not even being considered at this moment. A team that was not able to qualify to the 2010 African Cup of Nations, winning the World Cup is not in the Bafana Bafana's agenda, not even in Carlos Alberto Pareira's agenda.The Brazilian coach, who won the 1994 World Cup, knows what is waiting for him: he needs to avoid the humiliation of being the first host in World cup history to fail to make it past the group stage. Against Mexico, Uruguay and France, the obstacles are high and the road is long.
The current South African team is nothing like the 1996 edition that won the African Cup of Nations. It has suffered from its weak club league and an internal turmoil in its federation. Turmoil even hit the team as the Bafana Bafana were preparing for the World Cup. South Africa was the last team to choose a base camp and Carlos Alberto Parreira has publicly criticized the federation for not being able to give him all the friendly games he needed to prepare the team.
Its 2-1 victory against Colombia, in Johannesburg, was a moral booster.
"I have a good feeling. The more I see the players at practice, the more I find them better.Every day that we stay together shows progress, " Pareira says.
In search of confidence and a flow to their game, South Africa has been accumulating bad results including a 1-1 draw against Bulgaria, a Bulgarian team without its best players. South African also played against third-tier teams that saw win 9 consecutive games:Thailand, Jamaica, Zimbabwe, Malawi and low-level clubs.
The Bafana Bafana do have a good reference to take from the 2009 Confederations Cup in which it went past the group stage. They would remind you of Euro 2008 host Austria: quickly condemned before the tournament and 100% operational in the tournament when it counts.
Players to depend on
South Africa does not have world class players. Only 2 members of the squad have played in the UEFA Champions League: Benni McCarthy and Tsepo Masilela. McCarthy won the UEFA CL in 2004 with Porto but his lack of form and extra weight make it difficult for him to be effective and trust worthy. Currently, the best South African player is Everton midfielder Steve Piennar but his lack of consistency makes him unsure whether or not he can lead the Bafana Bafana.
We also have Siphiwe Tshabalala who might be a revelation if he confirms his excellent performances that he produced during the friendly games. He is Carlos Alberto Parreira's biggest hope and he will depend on his leadership to take the team as far as they can. The experimented manager is basing South Africa's game on an intense physical preparation and an ambitious ground game. Can he pull it off in time?
Steve Pienaar says, "Our chances to go far are strong. I am very confident in our capacities to go beyond the round of 16. The team has realized great progress after all each base camps it participated in.''
Schedule
June 11th : South Africa - Mexico
June 16th : South Africa - Uruguay
June 22nd : South Africa - France
Possible round of 16 adversaries: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea or Greece,.
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