‘CRUISING nicely’, ‘retshela thupa’- are some of the celebratory superlatives most of South Africans woke up to this morning.
Reason: Bafana Bafana beat one of the strongest sides in the Group A, South Korea 1-0 to reach the last 32 stages of the FIFA World Cup.
Thanks to Mamelodi Sundowns on loan striker Thapelo Maseko’s 63th minutes goal that handed Bafana the historical win.
Historical in that Bafana has never progressed to the WC eliminations stages since its admission to this glorious spectacle, let alone the 2010 WC held in SA, the first on the African continent.
Yes, millions of people, including pundits did not give coach Hugo Broos’s side a chance to beat South Korea and book a place in the last 32, its a miracle the whole country woke up to, though.
Broos also admitted it was a stressful game that he prayed the game could end after Maseko’s goal- telling reporters post match: “The last part of the game was extremely stressful and the last 20 minutes my heart was beating and I wanted the game to be over as soon as possible,” Broos said with a smile.
“It is a fantastic experience. It was so tough today but we played a very good game and had chances and were tactically very good. It was very difficult for South Korea to find space. We defended well and were dangerous.”
“This is historical, I am very happy for the guys. What we did in the last five years is amazing.”
Broos took over as Bafana head coach in 2021 and has turned around South Africa’s fortunes. He guided them to third place at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and got Bafana through qualifying for a World Cup finals for the first time in 24 years.
By virtue of coming second in Group A, they will face co-host Canada on June 28 (Sunday).
Image provided (Bafana historically qualified for the last 32 WC elimination stages having beaten one of WC favourites S. Korea 1-0 on Wednesday morning- thanks to Thapelo Mokoena’s goal.)
