World Football

By Mark Gleeson

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 16 (Reuters) - South African football leaders said there was no need to panic over the national side's poor results as they build-up to hosting the 2010 World Cup finals.

South Africa 2010 Organising Committee chairman Irvin Khoza said there were several precedents in the past of host teams struggling before the tournament but then still proving competitive in the finals.

Khoza was reacting to FIFA president Sepp Blatter's blunt analysis of the South African side on Monday when he warned there was little time left to turn around their decline.

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 both for the 2009 Confederations Cup and 2010 World Cup.

"Football is a game of opinion and we respect his 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 did not qualify for the World Cup finals before they hosted the event in 1998 and Germany were being written off before the 2006 finals."

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

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

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 is why our national team is suffering," he said.

He also said a more scientific approach to preparation would now be taken. "But we have to give the necessary support to the coach to ensure we'll be competitive in 2010."