Bafana Bafana – The Day After Game 1

Final score: Mexico 2 – 0 Bafana Bafana

I am disappointed in the result, like all South Africans. The reality is you win some and you lose others. In my many years in sport as a coach, administrator, manager, leader and strategist, I have come across this principle of life a million times. I do not think that Coaches Hugo and Helman went into the game against Mexico wanting to lose. I am 100% sure that they spent 100s of hours studying their opponents. By the way, the opponents also spend hundreds of hours studying Bafana Bafana.

Lest we forget, hours before the game, we were singing praise for being at the World Cup for the first time since 2010. We have been absent from this stage for 16 years. This should tell us something about what creates BMT. If you do not know it, I am talking about Big Match Temperament (BMT). That is, stepping up at a higher-level competition such as the World Cup. BMT is the mental capacity to perform in high-pressure situations without "choking". This will come with great preparations involving physical, mental and life skills training and experience and exposure to extreme pressure at the highest levels of competition regularly.

It takes experience to match opponents who have been playing at World Cups many years before 2010 and thereafter. Mexico has been qualifying for the tournament consecutively since 1994. Bafana Bafana have played in only 4 World Cups (1998 in France, 2002 in South Korea and Japan, 2010 in South Africa and 2026 in Mexico, the USA and Canada). So the score line is Mexico 18 vs Bafana Bafana 4. This score line of appearances at the World Cup tells me as a professional in sport that any match versus a team such as Mexico in a stadium in Mexico will skew towards Mexico. What with 80 000 fans, the majority of whom were supporting the home team?

Rather than feeling let down and criticising Coach Hugo, his team and players for a lacklustre performance, we need to be realistic and compassionate. Realistic given the level of competition Mexico plays in regularly, playing in front of their home fans. Compassionate because we want Bafana Bafana to turn things around and do better.

Therefore, let us not kick Bafana Bafana when they are down. Rather, let us find words to lift them out the situation that they are in. Let us remember how excited we were a few hours ago for being in the World Cup. We are still in the World Cup. If it does not go well, we should know that the problem is not in Mexico but here at home in how we run our football and develop our players. We are not developing players now at the World Cup. Players are developed here at home long before World Cups. Therefore, it is us who are involved in football who must take the blame for Bafana Bafana’s performance at the 2026 World Cup.

Please, South Africa, let us remain fully supportive of Bafana Bafana until they exit the tournament for one simple reason. Coach Hugo, the technical team is working tirelessly to prepare the players for the next game. Our collective words of encouragement will go a long way towards igniting the desire to put their lives on the line as they represent all of us at the World Cup. Despite the outcome, let us come out of this with a clear plan that will ensure that Bafana Bafana qualifies for the 2030 World Cup and all the World Cups thereafter.

#BafanaKaofela