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Parreira praises attitude of South Africans

The 5-0 destruction of Guatemala in their penultimate warm-up before the World Cup set a record winning margin for Bafana Bafana (The Boys) just 10 days before facing Mexico in their first Group A match.

The Brazilian, who has presided over six wins and five draws since returning to South Africa last November, thought his team played better last Monday when drawing with Bulgaria, but praised the attitude.

“This was our second last preparation game so it was important to assess almost all the players but, technically, it was not the best match we have played,” admitted Parreira.

“I liked the attitude of the team - the commitment was excellent and we created chances and scored five goals. We could not have asked for better.”

Captain Aaron Mokoena became the first South African to reach the 100-cap milestone and admitted it was vital to secure such a convincing win the day before Parreira announces his final 23-man squad.

He said: “This game was so important for us to win to build momentum. We made it easy for ourselves by scoring goals and we are on the right track.

“There were mixed feelings in the dressing-room because we know that some players will leave us tomorrow, but it is part of the game and we have to move on.”

Parreira kept his cards close to his chest when asked about the final squad with Benni McCarthy’s failure to play, raising questions about his inclusion, but the coach gave nothing away.

“There’s nothing wrong with him (Benni) - we know all the players we need by now. It’s a daily assessment and we’re not going to judge a player on one match.

“They all know that the decision is coming and I would say that everyone deserves to be in the squad but, unfortunately, that cannot happen.”