Disappointment and pride as Bafana bow out

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (AP):

South Africa's players exited the World Cup with a mixture of pride and disappointment following a 2-1 win over France yesterday.

The bitter blow of becoming the first host to fail to advance from the first round was softened by victory over the former world champions, South Africa goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs said.

"We are still disappointed," Josephs said. "If we look at the performance we put in there and look back ... we could have done this in the second game and made it much easier for ourselves.

"But then again, we have to look on the brighter side and be proud of the way the guys put in the effort today, for the nation and for the people that were right behind us from the start."

With a victory

Captain Aaron Mokoena said his team could take heart from its World Cup performance as they signed off with a victory.

"A draw, a loss and a win. I don't think it's a bad result," Mokoena said. "It's mixed feelings for everyone that we couldn't make it through, but there are so many positives we can take from this."

After his final game in charge of Bafana Bafana, coach Carlos Alberto Parreira described how South Africa president Jacob Zuma had visited the team in the dressing room and told the players he was happy with the result and that "life goes on".

"I believe that the whole country is proud," Parreira said. "We are disappointed but I told my players put your head up, this is not a failure.

"What the boys did for me in these seven months of preparation, I have to say to them thank you very much," an emotional Parreira said. "I'm so happy with this occasion."

Midfielder Steven Pienaar said South Africa - which eventually lost out to Mexico on goal difference for the second qualifying place in Group A - had believed they could reach the next round even after the devastating 3-0 loss to Uruguay in the last game.

"You can't say that we didn't give our best," he said. "We pushed from the first minute.

"With football we brought our nation together and showed that we are one country ... . We have to be proud of the team."