South Africa coach Hugo Broos said his team had shut up the 'big mouths' after the Bafana Bafana qualified for the World Cup knockouts for the first time in their history by beating South Korea 1-0 on Wednesday.
The African team, playing in the tournament for the fourth time, finished second in Group A behind co-hosts Mexico, who had a perfect record of three wins out of three.
South Africa, who last featured at the World Cup when they hosted it in 2010, were widely written off after their 2-0 loss to Mexico in their opening match.
But they battled to a draw against the Czech Republic and came out on top in what was effectively a shootout for second place in Monterrey, thanks to Thapelo Maseko's second-half strike.
"I'm very proud of the performance of my team and I think we gave an answer to all those big mouths of the last weeks that thought that we had to change something," said a defiant Broos.
"We just did what we did. We just did what I wanted to do and this is the result."
The 74-year-old, who has been at the helm since 2021, said reaching the second round was an emotional moment for South Africa.
"I said it already in the past that probably it will be one of the last games of my career and when you can end a career like I had in this way, I think everybody or every coach dreams of it."
The Belgian said he had always believed in his players despite harsh criticism aimed at them.
"Between me as a coach and them as players is yes, maybe something unique – I'm the coach, but I'm not a coach," he said.
"I think I'm a friend of theirs. So the relationship between the players and me, this is very good."
South Africa will face Canada, one of the tournament co-hosts, in Los Angeles on Sunday, with a place in the last 16 up for grabs.
"I just know that the players will be ready again and try to achieve the third round," said Broos.
"It should be even more historic. But those players are chasing those things. Those players want to prove to everyone and to show that they are a good team. So we will see next Sunday if we can go further."
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