WHEN Hugo Broos left the bench and knelt down to pray, enjoying the historic victory of Bafana Bafana in the World Cup, it was always clear that he was carrying a weight of pressure on his shoulders.
In Bafana’s opening match of the tournament, the coach from Belgium and his players refused to let the fans spit on them because of playing the “bile” of football. But Broos said it will be fine. It is clear that what he did on Thursday morning was to be thankful that the promise has been fulfilled in difficult circumstances.
There is no criticism that Broos and Bafana did not receive for their decisions in the game against Mexico. But when the group games ended, Broos and players like Siphelele Sithole became the darlings of the country, making history by including South Africa for the first time in the knockout round of the World Cup.
In fact, their 1-0 defeat of South Korea looked like the way Broos was trying to win from the beginning because they stopped the opponents by closing in the middle and back. Korea had all the ball, but it was Bafana who showed intent and danger when attacking.
“I think tactically we played well, everyone did their job,” said Broos.
“The difference in this game is that when the ball was at our feet, we were dangerous, which is the most important thing.”
Broos is right, but what he leaves out is that the failure of the tactics in the first game turned the players against Mexico, even causing them red cards. In the second game against Czechia, which ended 1-1, the signs of being nervous were reduced. In the last 32 game yesterday, they took off their clothes and ran like “I will die on the field”. This is the way the country wants to be conducted when they face Canada in the Last 32 on Sunday.