South Africa coach Hugo Broos said his team had silenced their critics after reaching the FIFA World Cup knockout stage for the first time with a 1 0 win over South Korea on Thursday.
The African side finished second in Group A behind co hosts Mexico, who won all three of their group matches.
South Africa were playing at the World Cup for the fourth time. They had not appeared in the tournament since hosting it in 2010.
Many had written them off after a 2 0 defeat to Mexico in their opening match. But they earned a draw against the Czech Republic before beating South Korea in a winner takes all clash in Monterrey. Thapelo Maseko scored the only goal of the game in the second half.
“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,” Broos said.
“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 led South Africa since 2021, described reaching the second round as one of the biggest moments of his career.
“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.”
Broos said he never lost faith in his players despite the criticism they faced.
“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 tournament co hosts Canada in Los Angeles on Sunday for a place in the last 16.
“I just know that the players will be ready again and try to achieve the third round,” Broos 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.”
