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Johannesburg - Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has laughed off the way Premier Soccer League teams play football.
The Brazilian believes the national team players greatly benefited from the training camp in his homeland, where they honed their close-control skills and engaged in possession football.
"The (Bafana) team without the ball is organised now, but we need to improve and this will come with time, to be quicker from defence to attack. I'm sure from this camp in Brazil they learnt a lot," said Parreira.
"We succeeded in keeping the ball on the ground."
He went on to point out that the style of play in the PSL resembles a game of table tennis.
"We don't want to be Brazil, we don't want to be Barcelona but we want to improve the quality of having the ball,"the coach added.
"If you see the games here in the league, it is like (a) tennis table (game). Nobody keeps the ball. It is true... just have a look. It is very difficult, but somehow we succeeded in (improving) it in Brazil.
"If there is one thing I want to see is for the players to be able to keep possession. We have to improve this in this high level... we must not give away the ball in dangerous areas.
"In Brazil we kept the ball and built from the back. We are much better than we were before we went to Brazil."
Ironically, Parreira revealed that around 16 of the 23 players that will be in the final World Cup squad will be local based.
The Brazilian believes the national team players greatly benefited from the training camp in his homeland, where they honed their close-control skills and engaged in possession football.
"The (Bafana) team without the ball is organised now, but we need to improve and this will come with time, to be quicker from defence to attack. I'm sure from this camp in Brazil they learnt a lot," said Parreira.
"We succeeded in keeping the ball on the ground."
He went on to point out that the style of play in the PSL resembles a game of table tennis.
"We don't want to be Brazil, we don't want to be Barcelona but we want to improve the quality of having the ball,"the coach added.
"If you see the games here in the league, it is like (a) tennis table (game). Nobody keeps the ball. It is true... just have a look. It is very difficult, but somehow we succeeded in (improving) it in Brazil.
"If there is one thing I want to see is for the players to be able to keep possession. We have to improve this in this high level... we must not give away the ball in dangerous areas.
"In Brazil we kept the ball and built from the back. We are much better than we were before we went to Brazil."
Ironically, Parreira revealed that around 16 of the 23 players that will be in the final World Cup squad will be local based.
