Bafana Bafana’s historic World Cup run, marked by unexpected achievements and a dramatic exit against Canada, has reignited hope and pride in South African football. Picture: Molly Darlington/Getty Images/AFP
Image: Molly Darlington/Getty Images/AFP
While weary-eyed South Africans will wake up on Monday with heavy hearts after Bafana Bafana crashed out of the Fifa World Cup, they can still hold their heads high after a historic run at the quadrennial showpiece.
Bafana were cruelly knocked out as Canada scored the winner in a 1-0 Round of 32 victory deep into referee’s added time, just as South Africans were beginning to prepare themselves for extra time and perhaps even penalties.
Still, Bafana were never expected to get this far.
Personally, I thought they might sneak through to the knockout stages as one of the best third-placed finishers in the expanded 48-team World Cup.
Instead, they went one better by finishing second in their group to qualify automatically. In fact, that second-place finish would have been enough to progress under the old 32-team format too – and that’s significant.
It should also be remembered that Bafana’s greatest achievement was qualifying for the World Cup in the first place. The last time they earned their place on merit was for the 2002 tournament. Yes, they appeared at the 2010 edition, but that came through automatic qualification as hosts.
Not even being docked three points – quite rightly – for fielding an ineligible player during their qualifying campaign could stop Bafana from topping their group ahead of continental heavyweights Nigeria.
Then came the World Cup itself.
Bafana adopted a new five-man defence to counter the attacking threat of hosts Mexico in the tournament opener on June 11. It didn’t work as planned. They conceded inside the opening 10 minutes and ultimately did well to limit the damage in a 2-0 defeat.
Against Czechia, it was a familiar story as Bafana again conceded early, and a group-stage exit looked increasingly inevitable.
But this team had already shown it possessed something special.
They refused to give up and found a dramatic equaliser with seven minutes remaining to rescue a priceless point.
That result kept their hopes alive, and sometimes hope is all you need.
Their 1-0 victory over South Korea was arguably one of the biggest upsets of the World Cup. But not to Bafana or coach Hugo Broos. They always believed in what they were capable of, even when few others did.
Their remarkable journey may have ended in heartbreaking fashion against Canada, but it has also reignited belief in South African football.
For that, they will return to the Rainbow Nation as champions.
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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