Khoza says that there is still time to build a competitive side

The chairman of South Africa's 2010 World Cup Organising Committee, Irvin Khoza, says that there is no need to panic over the national team's poor results.

Khoza was reacting to Fifa president Sepp Blatter's blunt analysis of the Bafana Bafana team.

Blatter, on a four day trip to South Africa, said he had been disappointed by recent results and warned time was running out to prepare a competitive team for the World Cup and the 2009 Confederations Cup.

But Khoza pointed to past precedents of host teams struggling before the tournament but still playing well in the finals.

"Football is a game of opinion and we respect his [Blatter's] opinion," Khoza told a news conference on Tuesday.

"It's not the first time that this sort of thing happens to a host country.

"France didn't qualify for the World Cup finals before they hosted the event in 1998 and Germany were being written off before the 2006 finals."

France won the 1998 World Cup as hosts, but missed out on the two previous competitions.

Khoza, an all-powerful figure behind the South African game, said the decline in the team's fortunes could be down to not having enough players in competitive leagues overseas.

"Maybe that's why our national team is suffering, but we have to give the necessary support to the coach to ensure we'll be competitive in 2010," he said.

South Africa coach Joel Santana has been under fire after the side lost three of their last four matches, costing them a place at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations finals.

In their last eight competitive matches, South Africa have won just once and have been steadily slipping down the Fifa rankings.