South Africa World Cup Team Preview: 2010

South Africa's soccer team secured a spot in the World Cup by virtue of being the host nation and not because of their exploits on the field. As one of the least talented teams in the tournament home field advantage is about the only thing that they have on their side. South Africa has gotten back head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira after he left the team in 2008 and hopes that the World Cup winning Brazilian can right the ship and help the home team advance to the second round of the tournament. It seems to be a tall order for Parreira when he finds his team placed in a very deep Group A where the three other teams all have a legitimate shot at winning the group. South Africa did participate in the qualifying process and finished second in their group behind World Cup participant Nigeria and had the same number of points as Sierra Leone with it's only wins coming against a very bad Equatorial Guinea team. These results don't exactly instill confidence in the team being successful in the 2010 World Cup but they did have a respectable 4^th place showing in the Confederation's Cup lighting up the scoreboard against Brazil and Spain.

The team is obviously not star laden but it does have some nice pieces to fire back against their opponents. Aaron Mokoena needs to keep the back line of the defense in order and deny some of the opportunities that are bound to occur against their talented foes. Benni McCarthy is an experienced goal scorer and will have to not only create chances for South Africa but he will need to finish them if they are to have a chance. Steven Pienaar in the midfield can create with his passing ability and will be one of the highlights for the home side.

Will South Africa keep up the tradition of host nations advancing out of the group stage? I just don't see where they get the win that will be necessary to advance and they will need at least a tie to go along with that. For this to happen France and Mexico will have to revert to their inconsistent ways and play a terrible cup. I wouldn't be shocked if they pulled one out but I definitely don't expect it and they should finish at the bottom of group A.See other Group A previews:

France
Mexico
Uruguay