By Brendon Hanley Jun 29, 2009, 7:28 GMT
Rustenburg, South Africa - After squeaking through what was an undeniably weak Group A, South Africa proved they were worthy football hosts of the Confederations Cup with a pair of good performances since then.
Ironically the matches both ended in defeat, albeit narrow ones decided late, to two giants of world football.
A 1-0 semi-final loss to eventual champions Brazil from a trademark Dani Alves freekick in the 88th minute was promising enough for the side that failed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations in Angola next year, but in the 3-2 defeat to Spain they were actually just minutes away from winning the match.
Only a pair of top-drawer goals from Daniel Guiza in the 88th and 89th minutes saw the European Champions dramatically come from a goal behind to take the lead.
However, a wonderful 35-yard free kick goal from Katlego Mphela with the last kick in regulation sent Bafana Bafana into extra time and proved they could fight back on their own.
And though Xabi Alonso settled things in the 107th minute with a free kick of his own, Bafana were justifiably proud of their performance. And with only some friendly matches standing between them and the finals next year, Bafana should have some solid momentum going to make some impact in 2010.
'We weren't well thought of before the tournament,' said coach Joel Santana. 'But we've come a long way, and we have a promising future. We performed excellently in the last two matches, and we consider ourselves as having played equal with Brazil, who are legendary, and the European Champions.'
Just as after the Brazil match, South Africa's opponents were full of praise for the play of the hosts. Veteran Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque said they were 'a difficult opponent' that played 'excellent football.'
Liverpool midfielder Alonso, put it this way: 'They played a great game. They showed very well what they could do against us and Brazil. They should do well next year.'
Striker Fernando Torres was even more positive when comparing their performance to the match they played in the group stage, which La Furia Roja won 2-0.
'This was a very difficult game,' he said. 'They were fantastic today. They have improved a lot since we last played them, and we are happy to beat them. They played better and were more physical, maybe more relaxed.'
Brazil-born coach Santana agrees that his side were nervous to start out the tournament - they drew 0-0 with Iraq and beat New Zealand 2-0 before falling to Spain - but says they will now have good experience in their bank.
'This competition has been very useful for us,' he said. 'Once we overcame our initial nervousness, our performances improved as we went along.'
But as always, the coach, who has a contract through the finals, has an eye on next June's World Cup.
'We have proven to ourselves that we can compete with these great teams, and now we must keep working until we get to the World Cup, so we can do just as well there,' he said.
South Africa captain, Aaron Mokoena, said the side were 'devastated' to miss out on third place, but agreed that the team had learned something valuable from the last two matches.
'We're quite confident now that we can go out there and match those big, big countries,' said Bafana's all-time most capped player.
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