South African door opens for Kerr

Former Rep of Ireland coach Brian Kerr is one of the names in the hat to manage South Africa after it was announced that Ted Dumitru is to step down from the post following a disastrous African Cup of Nations.

Kerr is one of approximately 50 applicants for the job that was due to come under review after the tournament anyway. The search for a new coach will now start sooner than anticipated due to the Bafana Bafana’s early exit and today’s confirmation of Dumitru’s departure.

Dumitru was the first coaching casualty of the African Nations Cup, after he and his team arrived back in Johannesburg to a chorus of boos, having failed to score a single goal.

South African Football Association (Safa) chief executive officer Raymond Hack confirmed the news. The veteran Romanian coach had been appointed in a caretaker capacity in November until the end of the tournament, but had it gone well he may have hung on to the job.

However, South Africa lost all three of their group games and went home as the first team in a decade to fail to score or win any points at the tournament.

Speaking to ireland.com today Hack said that Safa would embark on an immediate search for a new coach, but that they had not considered any applications as yet.

"We now wait for the technical committee’s report and start evaluating coaches, and the way forward," he said. "We have a meeting on the 16th and 28th of February and we are hoping to do it in the next six weeks."

Hack said he could not comment on any individual applicant, adding that: "They are all the same, we haven’t looked at anybody."

Dumitru was the 12th coach that the country had employed since its return to international football in 1992 after decades of apartheid-enforced isolation.

He took over from Englishman Stuart Baxter, who resigned in November after the country's failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals.

South Africa's performance in Egypt has set off alarm bells ahead of the country's hosting of the 2010 World Cup finals.

The tournament outcome and regular infighting within Safa means that life in the job is a tempestuous one for any manager. That is, however, tempered by the fact that the side would not have to qualify for the World Cup 2010 and would enjoy home advantage.

The side had arrived home to a hail of derision at Johannesburg airport and needed a police escort to protect them from angry supporters.