Coach Hugo Broos not throwing in the towel after South Africa's opening day stumble in Mexico

Victory always seemed a distant prospect for Bafana Bafana, but the way they lost will worry supporters, as they handed Mexico goals and displayed the sort of indiscipline that comes from feeling the heat.

Nonetheless, Broos said he was satisfied with his team despite the loss.

“I think my team played a good game,” the Belgian stated. “At times Mexico were desperate in the match; they did not know how to create space.

“The only area we must improve in the next match is when we have possession. We were not very good at that today, so we need to work on it.”

Bafana lost Yaya Sithole to a last-man foul, then their star player Themba Zwane was sent off for a swinging arm.

“I think the first red card (for Sithole), I will not comment on. As for the second red card, I believe the Mexican player fouled my player. But the referee saw it differently,” said Broos. “It is a shame we had to end the game with nine players.”

Broos acknowledged his side faced pressure in the opening 20 minutes but then emerged from their shell and had their opportunities.

“When you face the hosts, you will feel the pressure,” he said. “But the only period where we were under pressure was the first 20 minutes. After that we kept the ball and played well.

“However, we made two errors on our part. In those moments you must not give the ball away. We lost possession, and that opened space for Mexico, and they scored twice.

"It is not pleasant for either player to receive a red card in the first match of the World Cup. Now we have two players who cannot feature in the next game.

"But we still have plenty of players, so if we demonstrate the same mindset and play the same way as today, I am confident we will achieve good results in the next two matches.

"We have seven days (until they face the Czech Republic in Atlanta). These players are professionals, so I do not foresee a problem; I am sure there will not be one," Broos concluded. "We need the next two days to get over the disappointment and fatigue. From Saturday and Sunday, the players will be ready for good training."