The pressure is firmly on South Africa following their disappointing 2-0 defeat to Mexico in the tournament opener in Mexico City a week ago. Czechia find themselves in a similar position after suffering a 2-1 defeat to South Korea in their opening fixture.

Bafana have never progressed beyond the group stage of a World Cup, and victory on Thursday would go a long way towards keeping their hopes of reaching the Round of 32 alive. Anything less than three points would leave South Africa with a mountain to climb heading into their final group match against South Korea.

Rowen Williams - SAFA

It won’t be an easy task. Czechia are ranked 44th in the world, while Hugo Broos’ side sit 61st in the FIFA rankings. However, this represents South Africa’s best opportunity to get points on the board, with South Korea ranked 22nd in the world and expected to provide an even sterner test.

To make matters more challenging, veteran playmaker Themba Zwane has been suspended for three matches following his debatable red card against Mexico, although South Africa are appealing the decision.

Bafana coach Hugo Broos acknowledged the gravity of the situation and admitted that Thursday’s encounter is effectively a must-win match for his side.

“I think the situation is clear. If tomorrow you don’t win, you play the last game against South Korea for nothing, and this is something we have to avoid,” said Broos.

“We know the mistakes we made in the first game, and some people said, yes, the coach is too soft for his players, but I don’t like to blame my players in front of a camera. So sometimes you have to lie a little bit as a coach, and that’s what I did.

“We know what went wrong in the game against Mexico, and we will try to improve that tomorrow. If we can improve that, and certainly when we have the ball, then I think we have a chance to win the game.

“And, we will appeal Zwane’s red card, yes.”

Yaya Sithole being shown a red card against Mexico - SAFA

Captain Ronwen Williams admitted that the defeat to Mexico hit the squad hard, but believes the team has regrouped and regained its belief ahead of the decisive showdown with Czechia.

“Of course, it was very difficult. I think the occasion and the moment. You know, obviously everyone deals with it differently, and us as a team, we didn’t want to concede so early in the critical phase of the match. And we learned the hard way,” said Williams.

“After the game, it was difficult. We had disappointment, we had pain, because we worked so hard for the opening game. And the last few years we’ve worked so hard to be at this moment that it hurt us so much with the performance and the result.

Hugo Broos and his coaching staff - SAFA

“I think for two or three days after the match, you could hear a pin drop in camp. There was a lot of quietness. The guys were in pain, so for that moment, you don’t want to say too much. You want to clean it out of your system, and everyone deals with things differently. That’s why we’ve got an experienced coach who let us be for two days after that.

“But then Monday it was work again. We did the debrief on the Mexico game, and we saw where we went wrong, and most of the guys acknowledged and agreed.

“Since then, when we’ve analysed Czechia, you could see the energy slowly coming back into the team, and the belief. The most important thing is you don’t want to lose that belief because, like I’ve mentioned, this World Cup, us being here, wasn’t given to us. We worked so hard for it.

Brian Gutiérrez and Khuliso Mudau - SAFA

“We didn’t want to lose that belief, and I think over the last two or three days you could see it there again. We know how important tomorrow’s match is, so we are ready.

“It’s going to be difficult because both countries are in the same moment now that we know we can’t drop points. So it’s going to be a fight, and we are ready for it.”

Thursday night’s crucial encounter in Atlanta kicks off at 18:00 South African time. Earlier in the group, Mexico and South Korea will square off at Estadio Akron in Guadalajara at 3:00 on Friday morning in a match that could have a major bearing on who finishes at the top of the group.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport