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The Bafana Bafana technical staff held their first meeting with the three assessors that were appointed by the South African Football Association to assist the senior men's national team. Present at the introductory gathering was head coach Carlos Parreira, assistant coaches Jairo Leal and Pitso Mosimane, SAFA Technical Director Serame Letsoaka and the three assessors – Gavin Hunt, Jomo Sono and Clive Barker.

Parreira made a presentation to the meeting outlining his plans dating back to 2007 going through to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

“Like I have said before, I have no probem working with anyone in football, especially the assessors. In fact I am willing to talk to anybody for the betterment of Bafana Bafana. What I did in this meeting was to share my philosophy, and my vision of this team – I took them every step of the way to show them what our plans are, where we are and where we are going,” said Parreira.

The coach highlighted though that there are some challenges – like the physical condition of players, and their availability for the Brazil camp – the crucial things he is trying to sort out.

All three assessors also had an input during the meeting.

“Parreira wanted to explain his vision to us, and that is good. He also assured us that he does not have a problem working with us and values our input. Closer to the time of the tournament we will continue to have such meetings and share ideas. In my view I think it went very well, that was a good starting point,” said Hunt, one of the assessors and also coach of Supersport United.

“Now that I know what the coach is doing I am happy and this will help some of us to comment in future when we talk about Bafana Bafana. Previously we were not afforded such a platform hence we were seen as negative people,” said Sono, coach and owner of Jomo Cosmos.

“My only concern is that the team does not defend as a unit, and this is something that needs to be rectified as a matter of urgency,” said Barker, himself a former Bafana Bafana coach.

This is not the first time that Bafana Bafana technical team had a meeting with local coaches.

Shortly before South Africa's friendly international matches against Japan and Jamaica in Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein respectively, the Bafana Bafana coaching staff met with some provincial coaches as well as regional coaches.

Other meetings are being planned for the future.