Former Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni is among the impressive list of applicants to take over the South African national team,
.Trapattoni will face significant competition for the job, with former Manchester City and Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini, one-time Real Madrid manager Bernd Schuster and German World Cup-winning captain Lothar Matthäus also said to have applied.
Africa Cup of Nations-winning manager Hugo Broos has also expressed his interest in the role, just weeks after leading Cameroon to the title.
The list of names was released by the official Bafana Bafana Twitter account of the national team.
Some applicants for Bafana job: Roberto Mancini, Trapattoni, Hassan Shihata, Hugo Brooks, Samson Siasia, Lothar Mattheus, Bernd Schuster
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) February 16, 2017
Trapattoni’s time with Ireland included qualification for Euro 2012, where the team lost all three games, and a near-miss in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers after Thierry Henry’s handball.
He has been out of work since leaving the role in September 2013.
“More than sixty applications have been received and some of the candidates are Roberto Mancini, Giovanni Trapattoni, Hassan Shehata, Hugo Broos, Muhsin Ertugral, Samson Siasia, Lothar Matthäus, Bernd Schuster, while some are still contracted to their teams and cannot be mentioned,” the South African Football Association stated.
Former Bafana Bafana greats Lucas Radebe and Benni McCarthy are included in the committee which will decide who will succeed Shakes Mashaba, who was sacked in December for “gross misconduct”.