South Africa national football team
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| South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | Bafana Bafana (The Boys, The Boys) |
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| Association | South African Football Association |
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| Confederation | CAF (Africa) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach |  Joel Santana |
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| Captain | Aaron Mokoena | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most caps | Aaron Mokoena (75) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top scorer | Benni McCarthy (30) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home stadium | First National Bank Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA code | RSA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA ranking | 68 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 16 (August 1996) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 109 (August 1993) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elo ranking | 77 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| First international | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Netherlands 2 - 1 South Africa  (Amsterdam, Netherlands; 2 November 1924) |
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| Biggest win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Australia 0 - 8 South Africa  (Adelaide, Australia; 17 September 1955) |
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| Biggest defeat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Australia 5 - 1 South Africa (Newcastle, Australia; 7 June 1947)  Mexico 4 - 0 South Africa (Los Angeles, USA; 6 October 1993)  USA 4 - 0 South Africa  (Washington, USA; 3 June 2000)  Nigeria 4 - 0 South Africa (Monastir, Tunisia; 31 January 2004) |
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| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 2 (First in 1998) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Round 1, 1998 and 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| African Nations Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 7 (First in 1996) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Winners, 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confederations Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 1 (First in 1997) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Best result | 1st round, 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The South Africa national football team, or Bafana Bafana (The Boys)[1], is the national team of South Africa and is controlled by the South African Football Association. It returned to the world stage in 1992, after years of being banned from FIFA.
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[edit] History
From the earliest days of the sport in South Africa until the end of apartheid, football in South Africa was affected by the country's system of racial segregation. The all-white Football Association of South Africa (FASA), was formed in 1892, while the South African Indian Football Association (SAIFA), the South African Bantu Football Association (SABFA) and the South African Coloured Football Association (SACFA) were founded in 1903, 1933 and 1936 respectively.
South Africa were invited to join Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan at the first conference of the Confederation of African Football in Khartoum in 1957 and the South African representative, Fred Fell, sat at the first meeting as a founding member. It soon became clear however that South Africa's constitution prohibited racially mixed teams from competitive sport and so they could only send either an all-black side or an all-white side to the planned 1957 African Cup of Nations. This was unacceptable to the other members of the Confederation and South Africa were disqualified from the competition, however some sources say that they withdrew voluntarily.
At the second CAF conference in 1958 South Africa were formally expelled from CAF. The all-white (FASA) were admitted to FIFA in the same year, but in August of 1960 it was given an ultimatum of one year to fall in line with the non-discriminatory regulations of FIFA. On September 26, 1961 at the annual FIFA conference, the South African association was formally suspended from FIFA. Sir Stanley Rous, president of The Football Association of England and a champion of South Africa's FIFA membership, was elected FIFA President a few days later. Rous was adamant that sport, and FIFA in particular, should not embroil itself in political matters and against fierce opposition he continued to resist attempts to expel South Africa from FIFA. The suspension was lifted in January of 1963 after a visit to South Africa by Rous in order to investigate the state of football in the country.
Rous declared that if the suspension were not lifted, football there would be retarded, possibly to the point of no recovery. The next annual conference of FIFA in October of 1964 took place in Tokyo and was attended by a larger contingent of representatives from African and Asian associations and here the suspension of South Africa's membership was re-imposed. In 1976, after the Soweto uprising, they were formally expelled from FIFA.
In 1991, with the apartheid system beginning to be demolished, a new multiracial South African Football Association was formed. On July 7, 1992, the South African national team played their first game in two decades, beating Cameroon 1-0. South Africa made the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, but failed to get out of the first round each time. They hosted (and won) the 1996 African Nations Cup and will host the 2010 World Cup, the first African nation to do so.
South Africa failed to impress local supporters by not scoring a single goal in the African Nations Cup of 2006. In light of these poor performances it was decided that the hiring of a more experienced manager was essential. Rumours began to fly, prior to the 2006, that England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson was to be the man for the job, with SAFA apparently offering him R30 million to take Bafana-Bafana to glory in 2010. However this has since been denied. More recently the former Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has accepted the job. After accepting the job, he was awarded R100 million for a four year contract. His term as manager started January 1 2007 targeting 2010 FIFA World Cup but he resigned in April 2008.
Joel Santana signed to coach until 2010. [1] He leaves Flamengo in an extraordinary campaign.
[edit] Honours
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- 1996
- COSAFA Cup: 2
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- 2002, 2007
[edit] International record
[edit] World Cup
- 1930 to 1962 - Did not enter
- 1966 to 1990 - Banned from FIFA because of Apartheid
- 1994 - Did not qualify
- 1998 - Round 1
- 2002 - Round 1
- 2006 - Did not qualify
- 2010 - Qualified automatically as host nation
[edit] African Nations Cup
- 1957 - Disqualified because of apartheid
- 1959 to 1992 - Banned from CAF
- 1994 - Did not qualify
- 1996 - Champions
- 1998 - Second place
- 2000 - Third place
- 2002 - Quarterfinals
- 2004 - Round 1
- 2006 - Round 1
- 2008 - Round 1
[edit] Coaches
- Dieter Widmann (1985-94)
- Clive Barker (1994-97)
- Jomo Sono (1998)
- Philippe Troussier (1998)
- Trott Moloto (1998-00)
- Carlos Queiroz (2000-02)
- Jomo Sono (2002)
- Ephraim Mashaba (2002-04)
- Stuart Baxter (2004-05)
- Carlos Alberto Parreira (2007-08)
- Joel Santana (2008-current)
[edit] Famous players
- Steven Pienaar
- Andre Arendse
- Shaun Bartlett
- Bradley Carnell
- Mark Fish
- Quinton Fortune
- Pierre Issa
- Doctor Khumalo
- Phil Masinga
- Benni McCarthy
- Aaron Mokoena
- John Moshoeu
- Siyabonga Nomvete
- Lucas Radebe
- Hans Vonk
- Sibusiso Zuma
- George Koumantarakis
[edit] Most capped
| Player | South Africa career | Caps (Goals) |
|---|---|---|
| Aaron Mokoena | 1999-present | 75 (1) |
| Shaun Bartlett | 1995-2005 | 74 (28) |
| John Moshoeu | 1993-2004 | 73 (8) |
| Lucas Radebe | 1992-2003 | 70 (2) |
| Benni McCarthy | 1997-present | 70 (30) |
| Andre Arendse | 1995-2004 | 67 (0) |
| Helman Mkhalele | 1994-2001 | 66 (7) |
| Siyabonga Nomvethe | 1999-present | 64 (14) |
| Mark Fish | 1993-2004 | 62 (2) |
| Delron Buckley | 1998-present | 61 (9) |
[edit] Top goalscorers
| Player | South Africa career | Goals (Caps) |
|---|---|---|
| Benni McCarthy | 1997-present | 30 (70) |
| Shaun Bartlett | 1995-2005 | 28 (74) |
| Phil Masinga | 1992-2001 | 19 (58) |
| Siyabonga Nomvethe | 1999-present | 14 (65) |
| Donald Wilson | 1947 | 11 (9) |
| Johnny Claessens | 1947-1953 | 9 (10) |
| Peter Hughes | 1955 | 9 (5) |
| Mark Williams | 1992-1997 | 9 (23) |
| Doctor Khumalo | 1992-2001 | 9 (50) |
| Delron Buckley | 1998-present | 9 (61) |
[edit] Current Squad
Squad for the friendly match against Paraguay on 26 March 2008.
[edit] Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the South Africa squad.
- Goalkeepers
| Name | Date of birth | Club | Caps (goals) | Most Recent Call up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senzo Meyiwa | September 24, 1987 | Orlando Pirates |
? (?) | v. Zimbabwe, 11 March 2008 |
| Rowen Fernandez | February 28, 1978 |  Arminia Bielefeld |
? (?) | v. Senegal, 31 January 2008 |
- Defenders
| Name | Date of birth | Club | Caps (goals) | Most Recent Call up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brett Evans | March 8, 1982 | Ajax Cape Town |
? (?) | v. Zimbabwe, 11 March 2008 |
| Bevan Fransman | October 31, 1983 | Moroka Swallows |
? (?) | v. Zimbabwe, 11 March 2008 |
| Siboniso Gaxa | April 6, 1984 | Supersport United |
? (?) | v. Zimbabwe, 11 March 2008 |
| Siyabonga Sangweni | Golden Arrows |
? (?) | v. Zimbabwe, 11 March 2008 | |
| Tumelo Nhlapo | January 20, 1988 | Bloemfontein Celtic |
? (?) | v. Senegal, 31 January 2008 |
| Benson Mhlongo | November 9, 1980 | Mamelodi Sundowns |
? (?) | v. Tunisia, 27 January 2008 |
- Midfielders
| Name | Date of birth | Club | Caps (goals) | Most Recent Call up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dumisani Ngwenya | October 28, 1984 | AmaZulu |
1 (0) | v. Zimbabwe, 11 March 2008 |
| Bennett Chenene | February 2, 1984 | Orlando Pirates |
? (?) | v. Zimbabwe, 11 March 2008 |
| Papi Zothwane | August 17, 1981 | Golden Arrows |
? (?) | v. Zimbabwe, 11 March 2008 |
| Elrio van Heerden | July 11, 1983 | .svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small} Club Brugge |
? (?) | v. Senegal, 31 January 2008 |
- Strikers
| Name | Date of birth | Club | Caps (goals) | Most Recent Call up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kermit Erasmus | July 8, 1990 | Supersport United |
? (?) | v. Zimbabwe, 11 March 2008 |
| Lerato Chabangu | August 15, 1985 | Mamelodi Sundowns |
? (?) | v. Senegal, 31 January 2008 |
| Sibusiso Zuma | June 23, 1975 | Arminia Bielefeld |
? (?) | v. Senegal, 31 January 2008 |
| Katlego Mphela | November 29, 1984 | Supersport United |
? (?) | v. Tunisia, 27 January 2008 |
[edit] External links
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International football
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