World Cup 2010 Team and Player Watch - South Africa

With the world cup just round the corner i thought it would be a good idea to introduce the teams that have made it to the spectatcle and also highlight some players to watch.I'll also be trying to highlight the strengths and weakneses of the teams involved.

We'll start today with the host country : South Africa

Group : Part of Group A along with Mexico,Uruguay and France

'Bafana Bafana' as the host nation is fondly called has indeed come a long way from being banned by FIFA in 1962 to becoming the first African nation to host a football world cup in 2010.IPL 2 and the Confiderations cup in 2009 were wonderful advertisements for South Africa's readiness and capabalities to host tournaments of such magnitude.SA is all set to cash in on this once in lifetime type oppurtunity and various local industries are relishing the prospects of thousands of tourists coming to their shores for a holiday.
But will the host nation have enough to cheer about on the football pitch ?

I believe that the star performers for SA will be the one who play in other leagues since they would have seen players from all over the world and will be conversant with their strategies and weaknesses.

Strikers

Benny Mcarthy has 83 caps for SA and has spent time with Ajax,Porto,Blackburn Rovers and now West Ham.
Considering he is 32 he will most probably play as a shadow striker and might not be playable for the enire 90 minutes. The forward with the next highest number of international caps is Katlego Mphela who has 20 appearances to show.
The attack is definitely inexperienced.

Midfielders

Steven Piennar has been a real workhorse for the Everton midfield and considering he is 27 will be keen on a good showing in the world cup. Again, the SA midfield looks quite inexperienced and young and will definitely struggle against the likes of Mexico and France.

Defenders

The pick would be the skipper Aaron Mokoena who has the maximum number of caps (99).Known for his tough tackling, which even his country teamate Piennar experienced in an Everton – Portsmouth game.
32 year old Matthew Booth might also get a look in considering his 6 feet 6 inches frame. Due to his height he is considered one of the most important players when meeting opponents with tall players


South Africa are coached by Carlos Alberto Parreira. A wily and experience coach who was in charge of the Brazil team in the 2006 world cup.

Strengths : Home advantage
Weaknesses : Young squad with very limited exposure to world football and players.

Verdict: Unfortunatley i think the host team will not make it to the next round based on paper statistics and assuming France do not commit hara kiri

Other teams reviewed by me

Additional Articles:

Piennar beleives South Africa can advance beyond the group stages


Sources:

http://www.fifa.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_national_football_team