Bafana's fitness a concern for Perreira

| Friday April 16, 2010 00:00

Perreira was in the Mother City to watch South Africa's Under-20 team in action against Nigeria at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday evening. His surprise visit followed Amajita's (the South Africa Under-20 team) stunning 3-2 victory over Brazil in the opening match of the Four Nation invitational tournament, which got under way at Newlands Rugby Stadium last Thursday. As a result of this display, the South African Football Association (Safa) felt it was worthwhile for Perreira to run the ruler over the youngsters. Perreira has just returned from Brazil, where he held a training camp for Bafana Bafana. He said that the national team have now adopted a playing style but his big concern is the physical fitness of the players. The one thing that we achieved at the training camp in Brazil was to identify a style of playing for the national team,' said Perreira. 'The side now have a shape and the players know what is required from them.

'However, the physical fitness should be much higher than where it is now. The defence is okay and the team is organised. The players can move with ease from defence to attack. 'They will also have to learn very quickly to improve the quality of possession and this is a problem I've noticed in local football.  'About 13 or so of the players who were in Brazil should make the final World Cup squad and by now they have a feeling about the way we want to play. 'We just have to make sure they express themselves and grow as a team. They must learn to open space and create scoring chances. 'Right now the bottle is half full because we are halfway ready towards being fully prepared for the World Cup. I say half full instead of half empty because I am optimistic about the way we are preparing for the World Cup. 'The last camp will be the one that we will have in Johannesburg starting on May 5.

'So far, the Brazil camp was a positive start and it doesn't matter what team we played against there because even a second division team in Brazil can give a good challenge to any team from anywhere in the world.' Bafana Bafana's squad will leave for Germany on Monday and will return on Friday, April 30.

Perreira was suitably impressed with Amajita even though they went down 3-1 to Nigeria, who scored two late goals at a time when the match seemed headed for a 1-all stalemate. 'I was very happy to see three or four players really doing well, especially after South Africa were so impressive in the first half,' said Parreira. 'In a very short time they could graduate through to the Bafana ranks if Safa provides them with a passage. It is the responsibility of Safa to ensure that there are channels for these players to develop and stake claims in the national team.'

 Parreira was overwhelmed by the beauty of Cape Town's World Cup stadium. 'I must say that I've seen stadiums all over the world but this stadium must rank among the top five in the world,' said Parreira. 'I am feeling so good after coming to this stadium because I've been asked many times by people all over the world about South Africa's ability to deliver a good World Cup. 'Now that I've seen this stadium I will be able to say with even greater conviction that South Africa will indeed deliver.

'The ambience of this stadium is truly special.' While in Germany, one of the friendlies for Bafana Bafana will be against China.

 'The match against China is just what the side needs to go higher in their performance level,' said Parreira.