South Africa beat South Korea 1-0 on Wednesday to reach the World Cup knockout rounds for the first time in their history -- an astonishing turnaround after a dismal opening defeat. The Bafana Bafana, playing in a World Cup for the first time since they hosted it in 2010, were widely written off after their 2-0 loss to Group A winners Mexico in the tournament's curtainraiser.

But they battled to a draw against the Czech Republic and came out on top of what was effectively a shootout with South Korea for second place in Monterrey, thanks to Thapelo Maseko's second-half strike. South Africa coach Hugo Broos said it was difficult to put his side's achievement into words.