The Miracle of Monterrey

Against Mexico we froze, against Czechia we improved, and against South Korea we played the new Bafana way.

Before a ball was kicked, South Africa was given about a one-in-three chance of even reaching the knockout round of the FIFA World Cup. After the Mexico defeat that hope all but vanished. Opta's supercomputer rated us the longest shot in the group, and the players said afterwards they had been told their chance was as low as seven percent of getting out the group.

After defeat at the hands of Mexico and the 1-1 draw to Czechia we were on the brink of elimination – South Africa went into the game against South Korea needing a win.

Against Mexico we were timid for almost the whole game. After initially attempting to build slowly from the back, Sphephelo Sithole's dispossession on the edge of our own box for the opening goal shook us, and we never found the nerve to go after them after that.

Against Czechia we were again lacklustre for the first half, waking up only after the break to steal a late draw. Twice we played like a team afraid to embarrass ourselves.

The New Bafana Bafana

This time we woke up inside ten minutes. South Korea had the better of the opening exchanges. A Kim Min-jae header that Aubrey Modiba cleared off the line and Lee Kang-in firing wide from a promising position served as cause for early concern. South Korea kept the ball, having 68.5% of the possession, the most they have ever managed at a World Cup, and did almost nothing with it: eight shots, not one clear-cut chance from open play.

Contrastingly, we only had a third of the ball, but we were direct and adventurous. This allowed us to get at South Korea before they could sink into a low defensive block. Despite wasting some of our best opportunities, we had the better of the game. Thirteen shots to eight, four on target to three. The braver side won.

The winner was the new Bafana in a single move. Tshepang Moremi drove to the sideline and pulled it back, Thapelo Maseko took one touch and found the bottom corner on 63 minutes. Quick, direct, fearless, the goal the side that froze against Mexico would never have scored. Maseko was the most dangerous player on the pitch by a distance: five shots, six touches in the box, and the Man of the Match award, a first for a South African at this tournament.

Now For Canada

Next is Canada, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday night, 21:00 South African time, for a place in the last 16. The bookmakers make Canada favourites and price us at about 18%, a shade under one in five. They gave us almost exactly the same odds against South Korea, and we won.

The graphic below is the road from here. Beating Canada, and the last 16 with it, sits at about 18%. The quarter-finals are a one-in-twenty long shot. The trophy, at 0.1%, barely marks the page.

Before last night it seemed that memes were the only thing Bafana were going to contribute to this tournament – but now, who knows how far we can go?