RABAT, Morocco -- South Africa head coach Hugo Broos cut a defiant figure in the aftermath of Bafana Bafana's Africa Cup of Nations exit at the hands of Cameroon on Sunday, following a 2-1 round of 16 defeat.
Goals either side of halftime from Junior Tchamadeu and Christian Kofane gave Cameroon a commanding lead in the tie, which took place at the Al Medina Stadium in Rabat, before Evidence Makgopa pulled one back for Bafana in the 88th minute.
Having reached the semifinals at the last Nations Cup, before qualifying for the World Cup by seeing off Nigeria in qualifying, much was expected of this South Africa team at the AFCON.
However, 74-year-old Broos has refused to accept that the regional heavyweights are going in the wrong direction under his watch.
"We aren't going backwards, certainly not," Broos told ESPN after the match. "I agree that in some games, the performances weren't at the level of South Africa that everybody knows, but I can't say that today.
"We need to have luck on our side, and if I go back two years, to the quarterfinal against Cape Verde, 10 seconds before the end, Ronwen Williams made a fantastic save without which, we would have lost the game.
"Today, we didn't have luck on our side."
As well as falling short of their run to the bronze medal in 2024, South Africa's defensive resiliency -- a key strength during Broos's tenure -- appears to have deserted them, with the team conceding six goals across four matches in Morocco, compared with three across the entire eight-game campaign in Ivory Coast in 2024.
While Lyle Foster and Oswin Appollis emerged as menacing attacking threats for Bafana during the Nations Cup, contributing four goals between them at the tournament, the team's finishing was a point of frustration in Morocco, with the one-time champions taking 18 shots against Cameroon but only forcing three saves from Indomitable Lions goalkeeper Devis Epassy.
"I agree that we conceded too many goals," Broos continued. "At the last AFCON, we only conceded three at the whole tournament, but we're not going backwards, certainly not.
"On the other hand, I think we have to make a good evaluation of what happened here at this tournament, and to look forward to the World Cup.
"Things are too emotional, and there's also a little frustration, and when you are emotional, sometimes you say things you regret afterwards, so I won't talk about [the future].
"The World Cup is in six months, and we need to be ready for that."
Broos has overseen South Africa's return to the World Cup for the first time since they hosted the tournament in 2010, but has announced that he will step down as head coach after the competition.
He's often cut a disgruntled figure in Morocco, complaining about the tournament atmosphere, the organisation, and the logistics, using his prematch news conferences to lament South Africa's training setup in the administrative capital Rabat.
"When you lose a game like this and you're eliminated from the AFCON, you are frustrated, sad, disappointed, and say things that you regret afterwards. I won't do that," he concluded. "I think we had the right plan, and everyone saw in the first half that we had three open chances in the first half an hour. The game should have been over.
"When you miss chances at this level, you pay the bill later, and we paid the bill."
Cameroon will now advance to meet hosts Morocco, who defeated Tanzania 2-1 earlier on Sunday, in the quarterfinal on Friday, with the heavyweights set to collide at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in the capital of Rabat.