Bafana shut up big-mouth critics despite last 32 exit

Bafana Bafana’s history-making players deserve a hero’s welcome when they arrive home after their World Cup exploits, despite their fairytale journey ending with a 1-0 loss against Canada on Sunday.

Skipper Ronwen Williams and his squad brought pride to the nation by reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time.

Williams’s class of 2026 wrote their names into SA football folklore and will perhaps in years to come even be mentioned in the same breath as Neil Tovey’s 1996 Bafana warriors who won the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil.

Prior to the exploits of the latest generation of Bafana stars, the World Cup had never been a happy hunting ground for SA.

SA failed to get out of the group stages in France in 1998, South Korea and Japan in 2002 and on home soil in 2010.

Bafana’s victory over South Korea to gain access to the last 32 came via a Thapelo Maseko strike in the 63rd minute.

Yes, it was heartbreaking that they could not beat Canada, but most were not expecting the team to even make it out of the group.

It was a remarkable turnaround by SA, who started the tournament with a 2-0 defeat to Mexico in Mexico City but gained confidence with a 1-1 draw against Czechia in Atlanta.

After a below-par display against Mexico, critics wrote off SA’s chances, and there was speculation Bafana would return home without finding the net in any of their three group matches.

How misguided the naysayers proved to be.

As The Herald’s football correspondent in Mexico noted, SA had gone from zeroes to heroes with their timely win over the Koreans.

The lead-up to the World Cup was not quite what coach Hugo Broos would have wanted for his ambitious team.

In their final warm-up outing on home soil, SA were held to a 0-0 draw by a defence-minded Nicaraguan side.

Then there was the embarrassing visa bungle, which delayed Bafana’s departure to the World Cup.

Along the way Broos said he succeeded in shutting up a few big mouths who derided Bafana at the start of their World Cup adventure.

He certainly managed to achieve that and proved actions speak louder than words.

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