Santana Out As South Africa Head Coach

Joel Santana has been relieved of his duties for his poor performance as head coach of the South Africa national team. With just 8 months until the World Cup, South Africa will be looking to appoint a replacement fast, as the hosts will be expected to put in a good showing in front of their home fans. Right now, South Africa are ranked 85th in the world by FIFA, just ahead of Haiti and Iceland, who aren't exactly international powers. While FIFA's rankings are not the be all and end all, it's never a good sign when you're that far down the pecking order.

Santana replaced Carlos Alberto Parreira in April 2008. His reign as South African boss got off to a rough start, as Bafana Bafana crashed out of the second round of World Cup qualifying (which also doubles as qualifying for the 2010 African Cup of Nations). His team only took one point from two matches with lowly Sierra Leone, and, as a result, they will miss out on the African Cup of Nations for the first time in 16 years.

Despite this setback, Santana retained his post and was able to guide his team to victory in friendlies against African powers Ghana and Cameroon later on in 2008. In 2009, Santana led his team in the Confederations Cup, where they progressed on to the semifinals after posting a 1-1-1 record in the group stage. Against Brazil, South Africa played very well and were unlucky to take the game to extra time, as a Danny Alves freekick just minutes from the final whistle was the difference. Bafana Bafana put in another good showing in the consolation match, however, as they took Spain to extra time after playing to a 2-2 tie in regulation. They would end up losing, but it was a promising result for the hosts.

Following the Confederations Cup, however, Santana and South Africa would hit a rough patch, losing 5 out of 6 friendlies, making it 8 losses in 9 matches. With the World Cup drawing near, South African officials decided that a change was in order and have opted to find a new coach. While rumors are floating around that former coach Carlos Alberto Parreira could be returning, nothing has been announced yet.

South Africa will look to live up to the recent trend of good performances by host nations. France won the tournament in 1998, while Korea and Germany both made it to the semifinals in 2002 and 2006 respectively. With November friendlies against Jamaica and Japan, Bafana Bafana and their new manager will be looking to right the ship.