For the first time in their history, South Africa will play in the knockout stages of the FIFA World Cup.
Bafana Bafana secured a monumental 1-0 victory over South Korea on Wednesday evening, sealing second place in Group A. The historic milestone sparked early-morning celebrations across South Africa, where fans took to the winter streets at dawn, reviving the blaring vuvuzelas not heard at this volume since the country hosted the tournament in 2010.
“Today you saw a team that believed in itself,” said manager Hugo Broos. “I think we played a very good game tactically. It was very good; everyone did their job. I’m very proud of the performance of my team.”
Qualification was something no one saw coming, and marked a miraculous turnaround for a squad that was heavily criticised and dismissed by pundits just a week ago. South Africa’s tournament began in disaster. Facing co-hosts Mexico in the hostile Estadio Azteca, an early defensive error by midfielder Sphephelo Sithole saw them concede sloppily. In the second half, Sithole and Themba Zwane both received red cards, leaving the team with 9 men and condemning them to a damaging 2-0 defeat that left them anchored to the bottom of the group.
Against Czechia in their next match, they showed greater discipline but no improvement in possession. They ended up scraping a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Czechia with a depleted squad, keeping their faint hopes alive heading into the final matchday.
But against South Korea, the surprising benching of their talismanic captain Heung-Min Son emboldened the African side to be more aggressive and physical. Sithole, in particular, commanded the centre of the pitch with composure and intent, breaking up South Korean attacks and dictating the tempo with pinpoint distribution, before Thapelo Maseko sparked delirium with his 63rd-minute strike.
No one saw this coming, but captain Ronwen Williams turned that very sentiment into motivation for his side.
“When I saw the publications posting potential teams to go [through] the group stage and we were given no chance, you know that fuels something inside of us, that everyone is against us. We used that as motivation and as energy to fight. And the fight that the guys showed … amazing.”
The victory was a crowning achievement for 74-year-old Broos, who became the oldest manager to ever win a World Cup match. Taking over a regressing national team five years ago amidst public apathy, the Belgian tactician engineered a rebuild rooted in strict discipline and unshakable team spirit — traits that were glaringly missing against Mexico, but came roaring back to full display over the next two group matches.
On Sunday, they will take on another host country, Canada. That the match will take place in Los Angeles, not in front of a raucous Canadian home crowd in Toronto or Vancouver, will offer them great motivation and, crucially, the composure they could not muster against Mexico in Mexico.
“On Sunday again you will see a team that will believe in itself and that will fight for the 90 minutes, and more if we have to.”
Exorcising the ghosts of past World Cup failures, South Africa enters the knockouts with nothing to lose and everything to gain, with an entire nation united firmly behind them.
