Cape Town — The recent influx of South American players on the Premier Soccer League (PSL) landscape stirs memories of a time when there was a burgeoning relationship between South African football and South American coaches.
Just ahead of the January transfer window deadline, South Americans like Darwin Gonzalez, Juan Carlos Ortíz (Venezuela), Erwin Saavedra (Bolivia), Junior Mendieta (Argentina) arrived on our shores to bolster PSL squads.
In recent years, South Africa's champion club Mamelodi Sundowns has had a full-on bromance with South American football. What started as a trickle became a steady stream of Latin American players as Leonardo Castro (Colombia), Ricardo Nascimento (Brazil), Gastón Sirino, Mauricio Affonso (both Uruguay) and José Alí Meza (Venezuela) arrived at the club's Chloorkop base.
With these acquisitions, the overall number of South Americans at Sundowns over the years has passed the 15-player mark. Apart from the player connection, Sundowns have also employed South American coaches. The most notable was the Chilean-born Mario Tuane who had a profound influence on local football.
In 1964 Tuane was brought to Cape Town by Hellenic FC, a club owned by Greek businessmen. He came highly recommended after an impressive coaching stint in Greece.
Tuane wasted no time importing players to strengthen his squad. Although most of the players were from Europe, he recruited some star South Americans at the same time. Top of the list were two brilliant Brazilians, Walter da Silva and Jorge Santoro, both of whom later also became coaches in SA.
Santoro is arguably the finest South American player to ply his trade in SA. However, some football aficionados may say that honour belongs to the Brazilian midfielder Jairzinho who played for Kaizer Chiefs in 1975. He was a member of Brazil's 1970 World Cup-winning team and was the leading goalscorer in Mexico.
The gifted ball player Santoro later played for Highlands Park and then coached teams like Moroka Swallows, Lusitano and Giant Blackpool.
Da Silva enjoyed a long association with SA football. After two years at Hellenic, he went to play for Highlands Park, Powerlines, Highlands Park and Berea Park. When he started coaching, he was appointed at all three Soweto clubs, Pirates, Chiefs and Moroka Swallows.
Da Silva famously made headlines after he was kidnapped at a time when he was coaching Swallows. The team was not doing well, and fanatical Swallows supporters felt the team would be better off without him so they kidnapped him for the duration of a match.
Meanwhile, at Hellenic, it soon became apparent that Tuane (for many years his surname was spelt Tuani in the SA media until it was corrected) had a volatile character to match the explosive temperament of his team which were nicknamed 'Greek Gods'. On one occasion, Tuane punched one of the Hellenic players stone-cold during a derby match against Cape Town City.
The first-aid crew, stationed on the touchline, were late to respond and Tuane, a larger-than-life character nicknamed the 'Godfather', carried the player off on his shoulder.
It was not the only time Tuane had flattened one of his players. When he was the coach at Berea Park, he flattened a player who had verbally abused him during a halftime talk. The player needed 10 minutes to come round before playing the second half.
Tuane only remained two years at Hellenic before he moved to several other SA clubs, including Chiefs, Pirates and Sundowns. The hierarchy at all the clubs spoke very highly of him.
Despite his record of punching players, chairman Kaizer Motaung thought Tuani’s man-management skills were top-class: "He knew exactly how to deal with each player. His man-management skill was outstanding. Mario was one of a kind."
Another South American who arrived as a player and later became a SA coach is Peru international Augusto 'Njenje' Palacios. He played in several countries before joining Witbank Aces in 1984. Later, he played for AmaZulu and Manning Rangers.
When he stopped playing, he was appointed coach at Chiefs in 1991. A year later, he became the Bafana Bafana coach in 1992. Later on, he returned to Chiefs and then moved to Soweto rivals Swallows and Pirates where he served in various capacities for a decade.
The highest profiled coach to work in SA is Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira, who had two spells as coach of Bafana Bafana. He guided Brazil to glory at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA.
IOL Sport