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South Africa's participation in the coveted World Cup has only come about in the
last two decades with the fall of Apartheid. Before then, South Africa was
banned by FIFA from taking part in the global soccer competition. In fact, it
was only in 1992 that South Africa was allowed to take part in the World Cup.
With a strong soccer fan base in the country, a new South African National
Football team soon emerged, which was christened 'Bafana Bafana' (the boys
the boys). It is controlled and overseen by the South African Football
Association (SAFA). On July 7th 1992, Bafana Bafana played their first World Cup
game in over 20 years, beating Cameroon 1-0.
In both the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, South Africa managed to make it to the
first round in each, but no further. Despite South Africa's lack lustre record
in the World Cup since their re-admittance to international soccer, South Africa
was chosen as the venue for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
As such, the country is preparing for the honor with the construction of many
new state-of-the-art soccer stadiums and facilities throughout the country.
Unfortunately the South African National Football team has been beset by poor
management. As a result, SAFA looked outside South Africa for a world
class coach.
The result was the hiring of former Brazilian national coach Carlos Alberto
Parreira in a four-year contract worth R100 million. Parreira started his
contract on January 1st 2007, but he resigned in April 2008 for personal reasons.
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