The chief executive of the 2010 World Cup believes England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson would be an ideal candidate to manage the host nation South Africa.

The South African team are in a major rebuilding phase and Danny Jordaan has been impressed with Eriksson's record of bringing through young players.

"Sven has overseen the emergence of young players" Jordaan told BBC Sport.

"That sort of attitude would be important when building a new team for South Africa."

Jordaan added that Eriksson's skills would be well suited to the challenge of rejuvenating the South Africa team.

"England have moved away from the idea that if David Beckham isn't available or Paul Scholes retires then the team is in trouble," said Jordaan.

"There's more depth and balance to the England team - whatever's said about Eriksson, young players now have a permanent place in the squad and that sort of attitude would be important when building a new team for South Africa."

Eriksson will step down as England coach following this summer's World Cup in Germany.

Bafana Bafana failed to win a point at the African Cup of Nations in Egypt and there are concerns in South Africa that they could become the first host nation to fail to reach the second round at a World Cup.

"Our performance in Egypt was miserable," added Jordaan.

"We now need a strong plan and a coach who's been to the World Cup and understands the dynamics of the tournament.

"He must also start in 2006 to give him time to oversee the technical development of our football over the next four years."

South Korea's decision to hire Guus Hiddink and pay him a large salary in similar circumstances was rewarded with a semi-final place four years ago.

Eriksson earns in the region of £4m a year but Jordaan doesn't think money should be an issue.

"The question is can we afford not to afford the best possible coach? It would be a footballing disaster if South Africa fail in 2010," added Jordaan.

"The performance of the host nation determines how the people embrace the whole event."

"We can build the finest stadiums but people come to watch the football, not to admire the architecture. I don't think the size of a salary is a consideration."

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Mmmm, I'm sure Sven would relish the challenge of managing an African team (or maybe not...lol). But South Africa are a very organised team and it'd be interesting to see how Sven would handle the challenge. I hope SAFA get their man.

Interesting news, I think that he would make a good coach for SA but can they afford it Maurice?

^^They sure as hell can afford it mate. SAFA is one of the richest FAs in Africa and they run a fully professional league which by any standards is quite lucrative. If money is all that will count, then they will get Sven for sure...

Not even Erikson could save those boys..........I hope he goes to coach a club side.....so Iwould not have to deal with the man during tournaments......and about that league....surely it is not still the best in Africa......it is well-funded......but none of the teams are really making any noise

^^absolutely mate, it's not the best in footballing terms. But in terms of all-round organisation and funding, only some of the North African leagues can rival it.

I don't know how keen I am for Eriksson. I was quite disapointed when Baxter left, I think he was a good coach. I don't know if Sven will be up to it, well whatever happens it can't be much worse than has alraedy happened before. We have so much potential yet we are still absolutly shit. I don't see what Sven can do to change it.

As for funding, we can definitly afford him. In footballing terms the quality of our league has been getting poorer and poorer of late. There are some decent teams and players but nothing special. Maybe in the future we might be able to see some better football and more talent coming out of South Africa.

About the league:
Well SA teams dont have much regard for CAF competitions...FACT
Kaizer Chiefs even pulled out of a match because they felt the competition was an inconvenience.
SA teams just play it for the sake of
Pirates, Chiefs and Sundowns would rather pbeat each other than win the African Champions league
So obviously, no SA team can make noise in Africa since their teams dont even have regard for African competitions.

About the NT:
Sven will get more respect from players and that might make them do better than they have been
Otherwise i haven't really seen anything special in Sven's tactics since he became England coach
Lazio had very good players when he won Serie A with them (Nedved and Veron at the helm)
He did well not to mess up a good team.

As for affording him:
I am sure SAFA can find funding somehow someway but i am not for it
SA should be focusing on playing to their strengths and Sven will come with the same old European approach
Unlike Cameroon and Ivory Coast (who can use Euro approach because they have physical attributes) SA are more trickery-oriented type of players. I think will be wasting money on this Sven cat.

i heard that a 17 year old South African was one of the 42 applicants 4 SA's coach....
Roger Lumer applied as well

well not caring about the CAF would be incredibly stupid........that is a big source of money......frankly I think SA will end up hiring a European nobody and then dump him after he fails to qualify for ACN 2008

The really top teams in SA dont need CAF money

As for SA, i hope the NT never qualifies for ACN 2008

^^I disagree with that. No matter how rich a club is, there's no way they'll snub extra revenue. SA clubs (most of them anyway) are very well sponsored by the corporate sector in SA, but to say they don't need CAF money is being economical with the truth.

Ask Pirates, who won the CAF Champions League in 1995 - even when the financial reward then wasn't as lucrative as it is now.

And what team would'nt give a damn about their continental club competitions? That'd be just plain stupidity.

After Chiefs won the CAF Cup they complained that playing in Africa was too costly and inconvenient
It's just how it is

I know no team wouldn't say no to extra revenue but there are cups in SA that give better returns than playing in Africa. Does anyone have the prize monies for the CAF competitions?

Yeah Sergio they seem Not to Care. Look at AJAX last year they were having a good team when they finish Second in 2003/2004 season that was gonna challenge in Champions league. What happen they decided not to Renew the contract of all the Experience Players, who were core of the team that finish second, they Decided to rope in young players with no experience of playing in PSL at least, so how Do u expect them to better in Cl?. But their coach did well to reach group stages. They also Complain about Travelling cost, Cos someties they have to via Europe in order to reach some other African Countries, where also they Say they get Ill treated.

As for Chiefs the Less said the better, Cos they are the Mainly team that Dont care about African Competition, they are my team i love them but they dissapoint me. Even now they are Banned for three years, reason they didnt want to houner the fixture.

But i think this yeah Sundowns and Pirate seem to be Serious about it cos Everybody here in South Africa has seen that this tournament is there to improve players in International terms, and also who Does not want to Be crowened Champions of Africa. I hope they progress to Semis atleast.

As for Erickson we dont need him, at this point we are in a worse state so we need somebody who will be able to build and willing to learn our style of football. Which they have eliminated over the years.

Yeah, but that was in 2002 when they won the now defunct Cup Winners Cup. By all accounts, that was a lousy competition and the costs of fulfilling fixtures far outweighted the prize money.

As for the current financial rewards in African competitions, here're the full details, courtesy of CAF...

MTN/CAF Champions League
At stake is a $3.5 million price money, which will be shared between clubs and national associations as follows:

Winner club $950,000 national association $50,000

Runner-up $665,000 national association $35,000

Semifinalists $427,500 national association $22,500

Team classified third $261,250 national association $13,750

Team classified fourth $190,000 national association $10,000



CAF Confederation Cup

Winner $300 000

Runner-up $200 000

Second in Group A and B $150 000 each

Third in Group A and B $125 000 each

Fourth in Group A and B $100 000 each

Federation of the winner $30 000

Federation of the runner-up $20 000


Now I know that's peanuts by European standards, but that sort of money makes a huge difference to African clubs...South African or otherwise.

PS - going back to the topic BTW, it seems Erikson is on the books of Real Madrid as well. It's probably one of the most demanding coaching jobs in football and I wonder if he'd be up to it.

Maurice.....while we are on the subject of coaches.....are there any truth to the rumors that Zambia are getting rid of theirs?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/4867972.stm

Arsenal for Life!

Actually there is money they can use if they win the Champions League
$950 000 is a lot of money

But $300 000 is almost the same as winning the Absa Cup for example and the costs in winning Absa Cup are much less
Either way, it is a shame that they have been so uninterested
Maybe things will change

Yeah mate...I think he's just bowing to the pressure. He is BOTH national team coach and Vice President of the FA...effectively the employee and employer at the same time!!! There's been talk about the Zambia FA having breached their constitution by allowing Kalusha to have dual roles. Granted he's been a fine ambassador for Zambian football but the trouble with coaching is when results start to go wrong, even the good that you did in the past is quickly forgotten. I'm glad he's decided to quit and stick to the FA role...he'll be far better off there.