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The former Manchester United star was unimpressed by what he witnessed.
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World Cup 2026 is now in full swing, with several groups already beginning to take form.
The competition commenced with Mexico hosting South Africa, and there have already been a few unexpected developments – such as the way Brazil initially appeared stunned by the attacking approach of Morocco.
And not everyone has enjoyed a strong start, with debutants Curacao suffering a 7-1 defeat against four-time champions Germany.
**Benni McCarthy slams "horrific" South Africa defeat**
One of those nursing their wounds following the opening round of matches is South Africa, who on the surface only lost 2-0 at Mexico’s Azteca stadium.
However, in reality, they likely escaped relatively lightly, and that’s despite the fact they ended the match with two straight red cards.
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Former South Africa international Benni McCarthy, who served as a coach at Manchester United under Erik ten Hag and played for Blackburn Rovers and West Ham, was far from pleased.
"They were horrific," McCarthy told the BBC’s Mark Chapman regarding that South Africa display, while working as a pundit ahead of Ivory Coast vs Ecuador. "I couldn't believe what I saw. I expected South Africa to come, maybe not beat Mexico, but at least put on a good showcase of, 'these are our strengths', but we lost our complete identity."
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Bafana Bafana still have matches against Czech Republic and South Korea to come, but their opening performance has already alarmed McCarthy.
"I think, Czech Republic, when you look at the match against South Korea, they've targeted South Korea because of the height aspect, and they were bombing in balls, left, right, and centre: free kicks, corner kicks, throw-ins, long throws.
"And they analysed South Africa and they'll have figured South Africa don't do well in stopping crosses coming in either. So that's another way for them to probably target South Africa in that manner, and also switching off and marking the Raul Jimenez goal."
Pressed by Chapman, the South African striker revealed how low the mood is back home.
"People just couldn't believe that we never really showcased what South African football is about," he admitted.
"And I don't think we're going to have the opportunity to do so now, because they'll be calculating not to lose both games, and then maybe we won't come out and play the way we really want to play."
Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his tenure on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has authored pieces on topics ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.
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