Bloemfontein - Despite their early exit from the FIFA World Cup, many Bafana Bafana fans at Mangaung Stadium seemed happy with the team's performance.
And contrary to fans leaving the Loftus Versfeld stadium last week in disappointment when Bafana lost 3-nil to Uruguay, fans at Mangaung this evening could be heard still blowing their vuvuzelas outside the stadium, long after the game had ended.
The national squad beat France 2-1 in their final Group A match a short while ago. The win, however, was not enough to see them through to the Round of 16.
"It was a fantastic game. I think, despite the disappointment, we can be very proud with the memorable moments the team left us today," said one fan, Johan Du Plessis.
Du Plesis and a group of friends from Pretoria had attended all three Bafana games and had vowed to continue doing so.
"Look this thing that Bafana will be abandoned after this is nonsense for me. What is important is that we start to work on our weaknesses now," Du Plessis said.
Stephen Smith of Bloemfontein said: "It's a disappointment, we would have loved to see them through but life goes on I guess. They did a good job tonight. Now, we just need to ensure that we continue to cheer the other teams because at the end of the day there can and only will be one winner."
South Africa only needed two more goals to keep its hopes on the tournament alive.
Mexico and Uruguay are both through to the second round while France is also out of the tournament.
Uruguay finished with seven points from their three games in Group A and head the group.
Mexico and South Africa finished with four points in the group with France finishing last on one point.
