What Bafana Bafana need to alter to revive their World Cup campaign

There will be much introspection about what went wrong and lessons to be learned, but now they can only look ahead to the challenges that await.

Here are the aspects they need to address.

Team selection

It is understandable why coach Hugo Broos set up the team as he did, trying to neutralise Mexico's attacking threat, but introducing an entirely new system to players in such a huge match is tough.

The players are not necessarily suited to the system he employed, and the question now is whether he should 'stick or twist'.

Stick with the game plan and hope it is executed better in the second match, or revert to what the players know and what he has used for most of the past five years.

The Czechs present a different challenge, so he may well be inclined to change things again.

An attacking threat

Part of the reason for Bafana's defeat was that they had no attacking outlet, certainly in the opening 20 minutes.

When they did win the ball back, they struggled to move up the field and put Mexico under pressure.

All that meant was Bafana were constantly on the back foot, always scrambling and never able to 'get out'.

The system with two strikers does not necessarily work with these players and was perhaps more of a surprise than the five at the back.

A central forward who can bring the speedy wingers into the game has been a staple of Bafana's play in recent years and is what got them to the World Cup.

Playing out from the back

We can blame Pep Guardiola for this one. Bafana are trying to play out from the back rather than be more direct, but when they come under pressure from teams with pace and athleticism, it is a recipe for disaster.

That is exactly what happened for the first goal against Mexico, where Yaya Sithole was caught in possession on the edge of the box after receiving a pass from goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.

There were several other occasions where they were caught out trying to do the same thing. It is a big risk that does not necessarily match the reward.

It works for a team like Manchester City because they have players who can work their way out of tight situations.

More ambition

No one is suggesting that Bafana need to be gung-ho against the Czechs, far from it. But they do need to show more ambition in attack.

If you sit back and allow teams to attack you, you suffer the consequences.

The best way to even the game and apply pressure on the opposition is to attack them and try to unsettle their game plan, giving them something else to think about rather than just worrying about how to break Bafana down.

Better in the air

The Czechs are one of the best teams in the World Cup from aerial situations and they will be a huge threat from set pieces and corners.

And this is where South Africa have struggled in the past. Defending balls into the box has been a real problem for the team and the Czechs will know this.

How Bafana sort this out, especially after losing Sithole to a red card, who is a good player in the air, remains to be seen.

But the warning signs are there.