Johannesburg  - When South Africa was awarded the right to host the 2010 World Cup football officials in the country embarked on an ambitious plan.

Not only did they want to ensure that the World Cup itself would be a huge success, they also wanted to make sure that they would be able to field a strong team at the showpiece of international football.

To facilitate the latter, the South African Football Association (SAFA) spared neither effort nor money and in 2006 they proudly announced that Carlos Alberto Parreira had signed a contract to coach the team.

The arrival of the Brazilian World Cup-winning coach had South African football fans dreaming of World Cup glory.

Two years down the line, the dream has become a bit of a nightmare, with Parreira back in Brazil, the national team eliminated from the African Cup of Nations at the first hurdle and the weaknesses of the Bafana Bafana, as the team is called, even a topic of debate amongst members of parliament.

Parreira, who resigned as he wanted to spend more time with his sick wife, nominated his own successor, but his friend Joel Santana has given no indication that he is the man to take the team to a higher level.

The 1-0 defeat against Nigeria, that saw South Africa crash out of contention to qualify for the finals of the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola robbed the country of the chance to play up to 12 competitive matches before the World Cup.

Santana's statements to the media after the defeat in Port Elizabeth did very little to instil confidence amongst football fans.

"You can't live on regrets. Life is all about learning. I don't own the truth, I'm also learning," the coach said.

Similar statements by the SAFA CEO Raymond Hack, who described the defeat as a blessing in disguise, also rang false. "Our challenge was always 2010 and if you want to look on the bright side, it gives us time to play more games as opposed to be playing there (at the Nations Cup) and to be judged on that," he told South African media.

After losing to Nigeria, Santana's only opportunity to test the team in a competition will be during the June 14-28 Confederations Cup, where South Africa will be participating in Group A, playing their first round matches in Johannesburg, Rustenburg and Mangaung/Bloemfontein, where they will face either Italy or Spain, Iraq or New Zealand and Brazil or the US.

Some observers though, take pity on Santana, arguing that he is expected to perform miracles with mediocre players.

Unlike many other African countries, South Africa has very few overseas-based professionals and of those, hardly any play regularly for top clubs.

Benni McCarthy, whose presence in the team remains controversial after the striker has retired and returned to international football nearly half a dozen times, spends most of his time sitting on the bench for English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers.

His teammate Aaron Mokoena often fails to even make the bench, while players like Mathew Booth (Krylia Sovetov), Bradley Carnell (SC Karlsruhe), Siyabonga Nkosi (Arminia Bielefeld) or McBeth Sibiya (Rubin Kazan) all play in clubs that are not considered in Europe's top bracket.

Much though is expected from Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar, whose journey from South Africa to the Premier League took him first to Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam, then to Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, from where he went to England.

Pienaar could well be the man to inspire Bafana and give fans something to cheer about. But the 26-year old is also injury-prone and should he not be at his best in the run-up to the 2009 Confederations Cup South Africa could face another early exit. (dpa)