By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: @BafanaBafana.
South Africa suffered a 2-0 defeat to Mexico in their opening World Cup match, their first appearance at the tournament in 16 years.
Goals from Julián Quiñones in the ninth minute and Raul Jiménez in the 67th handed Mexico a comfortable win.
South Africa saw Sphephelo ‘Yaya’ Sithole sent off in the 50th minute and Themba Zwane in the 84th, while Mexico’s César Montes was given his marching orders in second half stoppage time.
“In a tournament, you can’t think too far ahead because anything can happen. For us, the objective was the same as it was a week ago: to survive the group stage. That is still possible,” Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos told the media after the defeat at Estadio Azteca.
“The start was not good and it wasn’t what we expected. We didn’t want to lose, but it is what it is.Now we have to try to get points from the next two games and then we’ll see where we stand.”
“We were up against a very good team today. We played against a strong Mexico side and, at times, I saw a desperate Mexico that didn’t know what to do with the ball. Our defensive organisation was perfect,” Broos said.
“Offensively, though, we need to improve. We had opportunities, but the final pass wasn’t good enough and our runs weren’t always the right ones. That’s something we have to work on over the next few days. I’m sure we can play the same type of game, be better offensively, and get a better result as well.”
Bafana Bafana will face Czechia on Thursday, June 18, in Atlanta. Their final group stage game will be against South Africa in Guadalupe on June 24, with kick-off time at 3 a.m.
South Africa have never made the knockout rounds of a FIFA World Cup, but this is the first expanded tournament to feature a round of 32.