Tournament News
World Cup has united SA
2010-07-09 13:46
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Johannesburg - The 2010 World Cup has acted as a catalyst to unite all South Africans.
That was the opinion of former Bafana Bafana coach Jomo Sono who is a member of the FIFA technical Committee overseeing the Hyundai Best Young Player of the World Cup award.
The committee on Friday named a short list of three players: Ghana’s Andre Ayew, Giovanni Dos Santos of Mexico and Thomas Mueller of Germany for the award. The winner will be announced after the final between Spain and Holland at Soccer City on Sunday night.
"This World Cup has achieved things beyond my expectations," said Somo.
"I can see more white South Africans returning to support local PSL teams instead of supporting English sides as they have done in the past.
"We must keep this momentum going and welcome the white people of our country back into local soccer which will help stimulate the local game once the World Cup is over.
"The tournament has been a revelation seeing South Africans united in support of Bafana and the World Cup and that helped make this tournament one of the best ever. To me the biggest bonus of the World Cup is seeing the spirit and a united South Africa. It has been simply brilliant."
But Sono warned that this was not the time for soccer officials to rest on their laurels.
"We need the right people running our soccer if we are to benefit from the World Cup legacy. What I mean is that people running football in our country must put the game ahead of their own egos. They must now put aside their desires for power and glory and rebuild our soccer and especially Bafana."
Sono also said that whoever replaced Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira as the new Bafana head coach should throw out all the so called egos in the side and develop promising youngsters.
"We had four months to prepare for the 2010 finals but we finished in the same place we finished in South Korea in the 2002 World Cup by not making it past the first round," he said.
"We need to look to develop our under-20 and under-23 national teams to rebuild Bafana for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. We can do without the prima donnas in the national side."
Sono said that SAFA must make the right choice of new coach. When asked who SAFA should appoint, he said it should be a South African.
"Only a South African can understand the culture of our players. There are two people in line and they are Pitso Mosimane who has been the Bafana assistant for four years and SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt. It has to be one of those two."
SAFA have said that Mosimane is their preferred choice and he is expected to be named as the new Bafana head coach next week.
Sono also said he was delighted that Spain and Holland had reached the final.
"They are two of the most exciting sides in the world and they will produce a magical final," he said.