S.Africa need to work on ball possession: coach

World Cup host South Africa need to work on ball possession as the team prepare for the 2010 opening match on June 11, coach Carlos Parreira said Thursday.

Speaking the day after the team’s return from a four-week training camp in Brazil, Parreira said Bafana Bafana (The Boys) need to work on controlling the ball more than what is typically seen in South Africa’s national league.

“If there is one thing I would like to see the team do much better, it’s in valuing the ball possession,” Parreira told journalists.

“If you see games here in the league, it’s like table tennis. Go and come, go and come. Nobody keeps the ball,” he said.

Parreira, who coached Brazil to the World Cup championship in 1994, will lead Bafana Bafana in their third World Cup appearance this year. The team have never made it past the tournament’s group stage.

The team’s ball possession had improved while in Brazil, he added.

“It’s very difficult to make this transition (to) holding the ball. I think we’ve somehow succeeded in Brazil. We’re not there yet, but it’s improving,” he said.

Parreira also said the players need to get fitter ahead of the tournament.

“To me the fitness levels need to be higher and will be by June. That will be key for Bafana at the World Cup. Fitness will get us through the first round,” he said.

Parreira named a squad of 25 players for the team’s next training camp, a 19-day stay in Germany starting Monday.

During the trip South Africa will play friendly matches against three Bundesliga sides.

South Africa play Mexico in the opening match of the tournament on June 11 at Johannesburg’s Soccer City, the first World Cup on African soil.