South Africa coach, Hugo Broos, said his side had answered its critics after securing a historic place in the World Cup knockout stage with a 1-0 victory over South Korea on Wednesday.
The win in Monterrey saw South Africa finish second in Group A behind co-hosts Mexico, who ended the group phase with a perfect record of three wins from three matches.
South Africa, making only their fourth World Cup appearance and first since hosting the tournament in 2010, recovered from an opening 2-0 defeat to Mexico to reach the knockout stage for the first time in their history.
After drawing with the Czech Republic, Bafana Bafana defeated South Korea thanks to a second-half goal from Thapelo Maseko in what effectively became a direct contest for second place in the group.
Broos said the result justified his faith in the team despite criticism following their opening defeat.
“I’m very proud of the performance of my team and I think we gave an answer to all those big mouths of the last weeks that thought that we had to change something,” said Broos.
“We just did what we did. We just did what I wanted to do, and this is the result.”
The 74-year-old Belgian, who has been in charge of South Africa since 2021, described the achievement as one of the most emotional moments of his coaching career.
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“I said it already in the past that probably it will be one of the last games of my career and when you can end a career like I had in this way, I think everybody or every coach dreams of it,” he said.
Broos also highlighted the strong relationship he has built with his players, insisting he never lost confidence in the squad despite external criticism.
“Between me as a coach and them as players is yes, maybe something unique, I’m the coach, but I’m not a coach,” he said.
“I think I’m a friend of theirs. So the relationship between the players and me, this is very good.”
South Africa will now face co-hosts Canada in Los Angeles on Sunday, with a place in the last 16 at stake.
Broos believes his players are capable of making more history.
“I just know that the players will be ready again and try to achieve the third round,” he said.
“It should be even more historic. But those players are chasing those things. Those players want to prove to everyone and to show that they are a good team. So we will see next Sunday if we can go further.”
(AFP)
