RIGHT-HAND MAN

ROGER DE SÁ HAS BEEN THE RIGHT-HAND MAN TO PORTUGUESE COACH CARLOS QUEIROZ AT SEVERAL NATIONAL TEAMS

- Mogamad Allie

The disappointment of missing out on a trial with Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon in 1997 is quickly forgotten when Roger de Sá recalls the doors that would subsequently be opened to the big and unforgettable international coaching gigs that were to follow.

A telephone conversation - in Portuguese with Carlos Queiroz, who was coach of Sporting Lisbon at the time, laid the foundations for the former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper to be part of Queiroz's technical teams at the 2010 and 2022 World Cups, as well as the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations.

"Our paths first crossed when Sporting wanted me to come over to Lisbon for a trial but Mamelodi Sundowns, my club at the time, wouldn't allow me to go," De Sá tells Soccer Club.

But as fate would have it, Queiroz sought out De Sá when the Portuguese coach was appointed Bafana boss in August 2000.

"Soon after Carlos arrived in South Africa he called me to arrange a meeting to discuss the team, the players and to get general information about the football setup here. After I informed him that I would no longer be playing for the national team he asked me to help with the goalkeepers and take it from there," De Sá says.

He would continue his association with Queiroz after the Mozambiqueborn coach quit the Bafana job shortly before the 2002 World Cup, when Jomo Sono was appointed technical director by Safa.

"When Carlos moved to Manchester United to take up the position as assistant to manager Alex Ferguson in June 2002, I got to work as the club's African scout going to the different CAF tournaments to look at players.