South Africa's World Cup dream ends as coach blames lack of power and speed

South Africa's World Cup aspirations were dashed with a 1-0 defeat to Canada, a result coach Hugo Broos attributed to a significant deficit in his team's speed and power.

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I think we have to be honest that today, we lost the game because there was a lack of power and speed in our team.

Broos was candid in his post-match assessment, stating that Canada was the superior side due to their quicker play and faster execution. "Modern football is more than technique. Modern football is power and speed," he explained, highlighting the contrast with his squad's performance.

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When I compare us with our opponent, we lost a lot of duels and the speed in our team ... not only the running speed, but also the speed of execution ... was not the same.

He lamented that the domestic South African game does not adequately prepare players for the demands of international competition. "These are things we have to work on, and this is also what I said already many times in South Africa, but nobody believes me," Broos said.

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Modern football is more than technique. Modern football is power and speed. If you don't have it in your team, and you play against a team who has it, and that was a big quality of Canada, then it's difficult. And we had a difficult game, certainly.

Despite the loss, Broos acknowledged that the team had surpassed expectations by reaching the knockout stage for the first time in 24 years. "Everyone hoped, but only some expected, that we should achieve (a place in) the second round," he noted, expressing pride in his team's overall achievement.

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When we look back, I think we can be very satisfied with what we did. It was 24 years ago that South Africa last qualified for the World Cup.