By Tim Vickery South American football reporter

Parreira is expected to lead South Africa to the 2010 World Cup

Carlos Alberto Parreira is not the most popular man in Brazil at the moment.

Many hold the coach responsible for his team's World Cup failure, and his style - calm, academic, almost aloof - is right out of fashion.

Hence the attempt to replace him with Luiz Felipe Scolari, and when that fell through, the appointment of 1994 captain Dunga, symbols of a more emotional, passionate approach.

But as the excitement builds in the countdown to Africa's first World Cup, it could be that a wise old head is exactly what Bafana Bafana need to get them ready for the challenge.

There are not too many coaches around with the experience of the 63-year-old Parreira.

He was coaching Ghana as far back as 1968, he has taken Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to the World Cup and he has been on Fifa's technical Committee since 1971.

But he is best known, of course, for his work with his native country.

Parreira's third spell in charge of Brazil may not have turned out as he would have wished, the quarter-final defeat to France bringing to an end a remarkable run of success for his country.

But it is worth remembering that it was Parreira who got the run started. Brazil had gone 24 years without winning the World Cup until he took them to triumph in 1994.

Never a professional player, Parreira's background is in physical preparation.

Indeed, he carried out this function on Brazil's coaching staff in the 1970 World Cup.

A studious figure, he has often been branded a defensive coach, an accusation he is quick to refute.

Instead he stresses that his aim is to find a balance between attack and defence.

Indeed, the defining characteristic of most Parreira sides is their emphasis on patient possession of the ball.

Brazil's 2006 team, top heavy with strikers and over-dependent on the counter attack, is far from typical of his work.

Much more representative is the 1994 line-up, an efficient, well-organised side which in conditions of intense heat managed to press the opposition without leaving itself open at the back.

He favours the 4-4-2 formation. This can be varied (for example to a 4-5-1), but it is very hard to imagine him opting for a back three.

Though if he finds that South Africa have good attacking full-backs, he is likely to pull a central midfielder very deep into a holding role, as he did with Mauro Silva in 1994.

So as South Africa prepare for their historic 2010 challenge, Parreira should have plenty of time to mould the team to his pattern.

There should be no lack of organisation.

But whether they have enough quality and flair to rise to the occasion is a question that Parreira will not yet be able to answer.