By Lara van ZylBafana Bafana head coach Joel Santana’s days seem to be numbered after losing two friendly matches in Scandinavia. Santana was hired to lead Bafana Banafa to the 2010 World Cup final. “...I do not think I will be fired”, were the famous last words of Santana before the South African Football Association made a statement that Santana had shamed the nation. It pains me to see how yet another coach is getting the axe, surely the coach of a national team cannot be the only person to blame. I admit that, although, losing eight out of nine matches since June is shocking to say the least, one must remember that Bafana Bafana were not that great to begin with. Our national soccer team has hardly ever made it past the second round of the Soccer World Cup for heaven’s sake. If x is y then all South African coaches are bad and if z is x, then Santana is a South African coach, therefore he must be a bad coach, this is not the case. Coaches get fired as a ‘quick fix’ solution and no-one ever questions who else might be to blame. These coaches hardly ever get a chance to prove the nation wrong before getting drop kicked out of the stadiums, which happens frequently. We, as South Africans, need to give our national coaches the benefit of the doubt or at least a chance to take all criticism and for them to then turn it into something constructive.
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