Naming of Bafana coach delayed

Whether it's a World Cup hangover or jitters over 2010, the South African Football Association (Safa) have missed another self-imposed deadline in naming the new Bafana Bafana coach.

The identity of the man, head-hunted over a seven-month period by Safa's technical committee, and who was to be offered the job, was to have been announced at an executive meeting of the association in Johannesburg on Friday.

But Safa chief executive Raymond Hack said: "The (actual) announcement was never going to be today (Friday), the technical committee will make their recommendation today... hopefully. And if they do, the announcement could be in two weeks or two days."

Latest favourite from the seven-man shortlist is former Liverpool boss Gérard Houllier, who was spotted being courted by Safa officials during the World Cup finals in Germany.

"They kept referring to him as 'coach'," a reliable source told the BBC sport website.

But Friday's Sowetan tipped Luis Felipe Scolari, who guided Portugal to the World Cup semis, as Bafana's next coach.

Safa had a shortlist of seven.