Broos cherishes emotional milestone as Bafana Bafana break new ground at the World Cup

Broos and his troops shocked a highly ranked and experienced South Korean national team, beating them 1-0 in the final Group A match played at Estadio Monterrey in Mexico last night.

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Thapelo Maseko’s goal in the second half, ensured that history was made, as Bafana made it past the group stages for the first time ever.  A moment to reflect for Broos....

 "It was an emotional moment. We came here in Mexico hoping to survive the group stages. We didn't start well and we played a draw against Czechia and we knew we had to win our final game. When we scored, it was still 15 minutes to play  - so it began to become more and more tense, that was my feeling - I was emotional. If you can end a career like this, I think coaches dream of it. It was an emotional moment," said Broos.

Broos has also reiterated that this is his last World Cup and looked back at the last five years with Bafana, noting that it has not always been smooth sailing, especially the last few weeks with critics back home.

"Certainly, my last World Cup, next World Cup is in four years, I will be 78, been on the bench - those nervous moments, it is not good for my health. I wanted to make the most of this World Cup and also end well. I have always believed in these players, even after our first game there was too much criticism, but I never doubted. We started the journey five years ago and there were critics in Africa, and we started producing results. This group gave me so much, and I was sure that we could produce good results today," added Broos.

The Belgian-born coach has also shared on how the relationship between him and his players work, describing himself as their friend, more than just a coach, and easily relatable- hence the saying at Bafana, that the players will die for the coach...

"You saw the guys were fighting for every ball today because they wanted to be in the second round. The combination between me and them is unique and it is good. I am like their friend. I am very happy that we have achieved the second round," he expressed.

Bafana have bounced back from an opening 2-0 defeat against the hosts Mexico, to finish second in Group A and will head to Los Angeles for their last 32 clash against co-hosts Canada on Sunday. Broos suggests that his players could have been overwhelmed by the World Cup opening game.