FORMER SOUTH AFRICA COACH CLIVE BARKER IS DEAD

According to a family statement, Clive Barker, the charismatic coach who led South Africa to victory at the Africa Cup of Nations and into its first World Cup finals, passed away on Saturday.

The 1996 Cup of Nations was South Africa’s first appearance in the competition, and the 78-year-old Barker served as their head coach.

Two years later, he supervised the team’s qualification for the World Cup in France, though he was fired six months before the tournament began.

Throughout his 40-year career coaching different clubs in South Africa’s premier division of football, Barker broke apartheid laws in the 1970s to manage teams in the country’s black townships, winning the league three times.