Bafana legend Roger De Sa lands a job in Iran ahead of FIFA World Cup

Bafana Bafana legend Roger De Sa is on his way to the FIFA World Cup as he will coach Iran and work with coach Carlos Queiroz. 
 
Queiroz is a long-time friend of De Sa and they recently worked together at this year’s CAF African Cup of Nations tournament where they coached Egypt. 
 
The former Orlando Pirates boss was successful in his stint on the Egyptian national side and he will fly out to Tehran on Monday to join Queiroz as assistant coach of the Iranian national side. 

This will be the fourth time that De Sa lands a job in a national team, and his second working with a national squad through a World Cup campaign. 
 
With just weeks until kick-off in Qatar, the coaches will spend a few days in Tehran with the squad ahead of friendlies in Austria, which will help them select the final squad for their Group B match against England on November 21. 
 
“Once you qualify for the World Cup, you give yourself a realistic chance, and with the tournament being held in Qatar, it evens it out a bit more because you are not playing in Europe, you are not playing in South America, so it is almost a neutral venue,” said De Sa as per Sunday World. 
 
“The heat and humidity will be a challenge for many of the players in the tournament. We have a short time to prepare, not ideal.  
 
“Ideally, we would have been there for a year but Carlos knows the team and the players know him, as he coached them in the last two World Cups.” 
 
The gruelling schedule starts on Tuesday when they assemble in Tehran and the experienced manager and former goalkeeper says the friendlies will help them. 
 
“Wednesday and Thursday we start training with the team. Saturday we train again, and then we fly out to Austria where we play Uruguay and Senegal. We return to Iran where we continue the scouting process with the team,” he added. 
 
“These two games will give us a good idea. I may fly to Europe to watch some of the players with their clubs, and we will probably train in Dubai for a week before we go to Qatar.” 
 
De Sa launched his coaching career with Bidvest Wits after a successful playing career that saw him manning the goalposts for Bafana, Mamelodi Sundowns, Moroko Swallows, and Wits. 
 
Image: Roger De Sa/Soccer Laduma 

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