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The idea of a World Cup being used at home as a turning point to usher in a new era for a national team has become an increasingly common feature in recent decades.
With more emerging football countries automatically qualifying for the finals as hosts, countries such as the US, South Korea, Japan and South Africa have all hosted World Cups in the past 30 years.
Selecting non-elite countries has changed the burden of proof of what those host countries can achieve, as winning is unlikely.
Instead, the pendulum of expectation has swung from home fans expecting victory to simply hoping they aren’t found completely out of their depth when the tournament kicks off. That does not bring less pressure for managers, but also a completely different challenge.
“I had never been the manager of a host nation in a World Cup before and the emotion and feeling is completely different,” explained Carlos Alberto Parreira, who managed host nation South Africa in 2010.
Carlos Alberto Parreira led South Africa against France under Raymond Domenech
As hosts of 2010, South Africa worked for several months and received four points for their efforts
“The population is involved, to be part of it for three and a half years, to be part of the stadium construction, to prepare the team, the players, to the last moment. It was a very, very positive experience.
“When I got there, someone asked me why [I accepted the job] and I said, ‘The only reason I came here was because I really wanted to be a host country manager’, and it was a really good experience.’
South Africa entered the tournament as the lowest-ranked side to ever host the final.
Ranked 83rd, the Bafana Bafana were drawn in a group alongside perennial challengers France, two-time champions Uruguay and regular qualifiers Mexico. Suddenly the fear was that they would be humiliated in front of a global audience.
Becoming the first hosts not to win a game at their home tournament – or worse, meekly fall back to three defeats – would undermine the positive legacy the South African FA and FIFA hoped the tournament would leave. And since this was the first World Cup to be held in Africa, the continent wanted a strong showing.
Parreira said South Africa’s group was difficult after a match with France and Mexico
South Africa’s Siphiwe Tshabalala (centre) was one of the players with two months of preparation time
“The group in South Africa was very difficult,” says Parreira. “I remember being at the draw to this day and they lined up the eight groups and because of technical results and past World Cups, France wasn’t top seed.
Dan Jeroen [Valcke], who was the Secretary General of FIFA, joked that we will now draw a group for France to enter. And guess where France went? South African group.
“It was not a very balanced group and nevertheless we took four points, drew with Mexico and won against France. If we were in another group, we would have advanced to the eighth finals.
“But I think the image that remained was very good, especially in the game against Mexico. It was the opening game, the whole world was watching and disaster could have happened in terms of results, but we played a really decent game, could have won it and ended up with a draw.’
To help Parreira’s task, the South African Premier Division ended more than two months earlier than usual to give the Brazilian more coaching time ahead of the World Cup.
Over the years, this has become an increasingly common technique used by federations of lesser-ranked countries, with the aim of creating a sporting advantage by getting more time on the training field.
South Africa’s fans showed up in droves to support their team during the World Cup hosting duties
Guus Hiddink insisted on having four months to prepare for South Korea’s bid for the 2002 World Cup
In fact, it was a specific demand that Guus Hiddink made to the Korean Football Association before taking charge of four uninterrupted months for the 2002 World Cup. The K-League obliged and rescheduled.
While that meant victory off the field, Hiddink had to find a way to do the same on the field. In five previous World Cup finals appearances, South Korea had not won a single match and had gone 14 games without a win.
Hiddink’s plan was to train his players in the months leading up to the tournament, focusing on fitness and boosting the South Koreans’ confidence to give them an edge over the opposition.
Both factors were crucial as the Reds shocked the world by becoming the first-ever Asian semi-finalist, so it’s now hard to believe the Dutchman’s methods were called into question when he first took charge in 2001.
Within months of arriving, Hiddink had earned the name Oh Dae Young – Mr Five-Nil – as South Korea suffered heavy defeats to France and the Czech Republic, among other disappointing results against strong opposition.
He had been at odds with the national press for what he considered to be preferential coverage of baseball over football and in turn was accused of being lazy and disrespectful due to a public relationship with his girlfriend – something that was reported in the Korean culture was rejected. There was little sign of what was to come.
Despite criticism of his working method upon arrival, Hiddink made them the first Asian semi-finalists
“I then let us play against tough European and African teams and people wanted me to go home,” Hiddink said triumphantly after South Korea won their opening match against Poland.
“But I stuck to my plans and now look at us. People had short-term views and didn’t appreciate what I did.’
The former Real Madrid boss tried 60 players in the 18 months leading up to the tournament, dropped a number of senior players to rekindle their appetite for the national team and later reintegrated them.
It finally started to pay off on the eve of the tournament, beating Scotland 4-1, drawing with England and coming face to face with world champions France in a 3- 2 defeat.
Expectations suddenly skyrocketed from pessimism to the belief that they would not only win a match, but also progress to the knockout stage. One win became two, three and then a semi-final against Germany.
South Korea made an excellent run through the World Cup final they co-hosted with Japan
The Dutch manager became a hero for the work he did to get the hosts to the final stages
But despite everything Hiddink and the players have achieved, midfielder Park Ji-Sung believes the crucial difference was the host.
“If it happened abroad or in other countries, we probably wouldn’t be able to do this or perform like this,” says the former Manchester United star. “The preparation for the whole year and a half, there were many training camps for the national team and it will not happen again.
“The whole country was just together for the goal of getting through the group stage of the World Cup. Then a great manager came to Korea at the right time and everyone just followed what he said. It’s not just one thing that can make it successful, it’s all together – the whole country is making that incredible thing.”
How to Win the World Cup: Secrets and Insights from International Football’s Top Managers (Bloomsbury) by Chris Evans is out now and features exclusive interviews with the likes of Luiz Felipe Scolari, Sir Geoff Hurst and Roberto Martinez.