COPYING the way respected players in the world do things helped Bafana Bafana hero, Thapelo Maseko, not to give up even though he was initially denied opportunities when South Africa made it to the Last 32 of the World Cup by beating South Korea yesterday morning at Monterrey Stadium, Mexico.
Bafana, who won with Maseko’s goal, advanced to the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time in their history.
In the Last 32, Bafana will face Canada on Sunday at 9 pm at the Los Angeles Stadium in California, United States.
“Watching the best players in the world helped me not to give up even if I beat the odds in the first half.
I am proud to be in the Bafana squad that made history in the World Cup. We are united in the camp and every player is willing to die for the other.
“We are not afraid as we go to the Last 32 match against Canada because what is happening is exactly what we came for in this tournament,” said Maseko.
Maseko, who was chosen as the best player in South Korea, turns into a hero and he is the one who got Bafana the equalizing penalty in the second match of Group A against Czechia with a 1-1 draw.
This player from Sebokeng has become a hero of Mzansi, he has gone through hardships that he described as something that ended his love for football when he left Mamelodi Sundowns.
He opened up on his Instagram page in August last year, talking about the difficulties he was facing due to not being played in this team. He is one of the players left in the country when the Sandawanas went to play in the Fifa Club World Cup in the United States in June.
When the 2025/26 season started, it was clear that he was not in the plans of the coach, Miguel Cardoso, as he was playing for the DStv Diski Challenge (DDC) team.
This led to the fact that this player, who was part of Hugo Broos’ team that finished in third place in the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast at the beginning of 2024, will no longer be called up to Bafana.
Things started to shine for him in January this year when the Brazilian loaned him to the Cyprus team, AEL Limassol.
In this team, another local player, Luther Singh, scored two goals, one in 15 games. What stood out the most was how he was a nuisance at stops because of his speed.
Because this league is not included in the major European leagues that are followed, Maseko is one of the players who were not expected to get a place in Broos’ team for the World Cup.
However, what he did in the friendly match between Bafana and Nicaragua showed why the Belgian coach remembered him again.
Although he did not hear about the team World Cup that was held in the United States last year, being part of the national team that will play the Last 32 match against Canada in Los Angeles on Sunday will soothe the wounds of missing last year’s competition.
Meanwhile, Maseko and his teammates in the national team have increased the money that will be received by the South African Football Association (Safa) to R390 million by entering the playoffs, which means that the money that will be received by each player has increased to R2.5 million.
