Carlos Alberto Parreira could not reach the second round

Anyone wondering what Carlos Alberto Parreira is doing now that the team he coached, South Africa, and the team from the country of his birth, Brazil, are out of the World Cup? Enjoying the good life of course.

Parreira was spotted dining out at a fine, secluded restaurant in the upmarket suburb of Sandton last night during the Uruguay v Ghana quarter-final match. He entered Mastronomio restaurant, known for its homemade pasta, with just one friend after 15 minutes of play and asked to be seated somewhere where he could see the television. A few minutes later, a party of seven Brazilians arrived to join him. All were in a sombre mood, which was to be expected as their team had been knocked out of the tournament just hours before their dinner party.

Parreria was the jolliest of the lot; he blew a cheeky kiss at one of the ladies, and joked with the restaurant staff. He didn’t even watch that much of the game, only looking up from his meal when Sulley Muntari scored in the dying seconds of added time in the first half. It was tough to tell who the South Africa coach was backing, as he didn’t make a sporting sound all evening. Not even when Diego Forlan equalised for Uruguay.

An hour after arriving, Parreira left. As he was walking out of the restaurant, two middle-aged women, who were surprisingly clued up about the ins and outs of football, stopped him. “We think you did a wonderful job for our team and we are very proud of them,” they said to Parreira. His characteristic beaming smile accompanied his reply, “Thank you very much.”

Parreria will vacate his post as coach of Bafana Bafana 30 days after the World Cup final and is set to retire in Brazil. He earned a salary of $257,000 per month in his first stint as coach of South Africa, but his salary during his second stint has not been revealed.