South Africa may be out but they are not down. Bafana Bafana's exit from the came in cruel circumstances after Stephen Eustaquio secured a in their Round of 32 clash at Los Angeles Stadium.
Nonetheless, after the team recovered from an opening defeat to Mexico to draw with Czechia and then defeat Korea Republic to reach the knockout stages of the global showpiece for the first time, they are leaving with their heads held high.
"It was a difficult game but I knew beforehand [it would be so] because I analysed the opponent. They have two important [traits] in power and speed. We hoped we had an answer for that but it was not always the fact," South Africa coach Hugo Broos told FIFA.
"You saw situations in the game that we could not follow and the duels, man against man, we lost sometimes or most of the time. We have to work on power and speed in South Africa.
"I don't have complaints about the mentality but I think we can look back on this tournament with happiness because we got to the second round. I don't think anybody expected that before the tournament."
South Africa's performances at the World Cup were even more impressive as it was their first global finals since 2010.
"It is sore now because we wanted to win today. It's a disappointment, it's very quiet in the dressing room at the moment. But on the other side we have to be honest, we did very well for our first time in the World Cup after 26 years. We achieved the second round."
Aged 74, Broos says he will look back on at the tournament with real fondness. "For me, it was a very nice thing to do as a coach again. We did it very well."
Sources: FIFA Official
