New Bafana coach 'chosen'
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Johannesburg - SAFA are keeping the lid on who will succeed Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira - even though the Brazilian has disclosed that the next man to lead the national team has already been decided.
Parreira says that an announcement will be made soon and that "it is a very good appointment."
Parreira bowed out of his $200 000-a-month job after Bafana's elimination from the 2010 Soccer World Cup in which they drew with Mexico 1-1, lost to eventual Group A table-toppers Uruguay 3-0, but rebounded to beat a woeful French side 2-1.
According to the KickOffwebsite, SAFA have always stated that the new Bafana Bafana coach will be a South African and that preference would be given to Parreira's long-standing assistant Pitso Mosimane who also occupied that position during the tenure of former Bafana coach Joel Santana.
However, Mosimane, himself, has cast an element of doubt over this with a statement to Reuters earlier this week that there have been no formal discussions with SAFA yet and that he has not received a firm offer.
The other man believed to be in the running for the position is current SuperSport coach Gavin Hunt.
Hunt, born 15 days before Mosimane in July 1964, played fullback for now defunct Cape Town club Hellenic and launched his coaching career by taking Seven Stars into the premier league.
Spells at other top-flight sides Hellenic, Black Leopards and Moroka Swallows followed before he succeeded Mosimane and led SuperSport to three consecutive national championship titles.
He holds a UEFA A licence having travelled to Europe during several close seasons at his own expense and his my-way-or-the-highway approach worked wonders with largely star-less squads.
SAFA CEO Leslie Sebide added to the confusion by stating this week that SAFA still needs to "go through a complicated process before making their choice".
Whoever takes over has his work cut out with six-time champions Egypt, improving Niger and bogey team Sierra Leone in the same 2012 Nations Cup qualifying group.
Only group winners are guaranteed a place in the finals to be co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea and the 'Pharaohs' are natural favourites having won the last three tournaments.
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