South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has denied any feelings
of shocks following his side's being drawn alongside Nigeria in the impending
continental qualifiers...
At the 2010 World Cup preliminary draw in Durban, Nigeria and South Africa
were pitched into the same qualifying pool, one that must surely be dubbed
the 'Group of Death'.
Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone make up the numbers in
Group 4 for the the Angolan 2010 African Cup of Nations qualifying contest.
The draw will also serve as the second phase of the African qualification
for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The national team coach,
who is paid R1,8 million per month (170,000 euros), believes that the
draw is a positive one .
Indeed, Parreira added that the South Africans would relish a competitive
game time ahead of the 2010 World Cup finals.
Coach Parreira added that, "This is what we wanted, one of the tough
teams. It's important to have strong opposition. We were always going
to be happy to play the big teams like Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Ghana.
"Nigeria is a top team too and for us to be well-prepared for 2010,
we have to play a team like this," the Brazilian told The Star.
The winner of the group will join 11 other victorys and the defending
champion in securing automatic slots for the African Nations Cup finals.
They are to be joined by three best group qualifiers.
Previously the Super Eagles demolished Bafana Bafana 4-0 in Lagos in December
1992, and forced a goalless in the return leg in Johannesburg in the first
African qualifying phase of the 1994 World Cup draw.
It didn't end there Nigeria also outplayed Bafana Bafana 4 - 0 in the
2004 African Cup of Nations in Tunisia.
Conversely, South Africa only beat Nigeria once in the Nelson Mandela
Invitational tournament by two goals to one in Johannesburg.
Nigeria ended up qualifying for the 1994 World Cup, whereas South Africa
won the 1996 African Cup of Nations. Since then South Africa's performances
in the African tournament have been regressing from bad to worse.
Nigerian coach Bert Vogts is confident that his side will beat South Africa
and top Group 4. On the other hand, Carlos Alberto Parreia is optimistic
that South Africa must fear nothing after being drawn with Nigeria.
Who will prevail?
Nadim Lukhele
,
29/11/2007
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