The South American-SA football bromance glows red hot again

Cape Town — The recent influx of South American players on the Premier Soccer League (PSL) landscape stirs memories of a time when there was a burgeoning relationship between South African football and South American coaches.

Just ahead of the January transfer window deadline, South Americans like Darwin Gonzalez, Juan Carlos Ortíz (Venezuela), Erwin Saavedra (Bolivia), Junior Mendieta (Argentina) arrived on our shores to bolster PSL squads.

In recent years, South Africa's champion club Mamelodi Sundowns has had a full-on bromance with South American football. What started as a trickle became a steady stream of Latin American players as Leonardo Castro (Colombia), Ricardo Nascimento (Brazil), Gastón Sirino, Mauricio Affonso (both Uruguay) and José Alí Meza (Venezuela) arrived at the club's Chloorkop base.

With these acquisitions, the overall number of South Americans at Sundowns over the years has passed the 15-player mark. Apart from the player connection, Sundowns have also employed South American coaches. The most notable was the Chilean-born Mario Tuane who had a profound influence on local football.

In 1964 Tuane was brought to Cape Town by Hellenic FC, a club owned by Greek businessmen. He came highly recommended after an impressive coaching stint in Greece.

Tuane wasted no time importing players to strengthen his squad. Although most of the players were from Europe, he recruited some star South Americans at the same time. Top of the list were two brilliant Brazilians, Walter da Silva and Jorge Santoro, both of whom later also became coaches in SA.

Santoro is arguably the finest South American player to ply his trade in SA. However, some football aficionados may say that honour belongs to the Brazilian midfielder