Johannesburg - Carlos Alberto Parreira has admitted there were unrealistic expectations of Bafana Bafana at the Soccer World Cup.
The Brazilian watched his men fight gallantly at the showpiece - recording a draw against Mexico coupled with a memorable victory against France, but it was not enough to take them to the knockout stages.
The coach, who lifted the World Cup in 1994 with Brazil, revealed that those who envisioned them making the final stages of the tournament were not thinking clearly.
"We have to be realistic, for example with the credentials we had in the Bafana team will it be realistic if we say we had to go to the final looking at the players we had and looking at the FIFA rankings?" asked Parreira.
"So that's why I never put pressure on my players to go to the next round and I just told them to go out and work hard. The players did well.
"When people remind me that we were knocked out in the first round I ask them if they looked at the group we were in. Three of the former World Cup winners were in our group and I think our group was going to be difficult for any other team in this World Cup.
"We were knocked out, but we played some fantastic football," Parreira concluded.
The Brazilian's contract with Bafana is set to expire 30 days after the World Cup final, but his assistant Pitso Mosimane should replace him in the next few days.
The Brazilian watched his men fight gallantly at the showpiece - recording a draw against Mexico coupled with a memorable victory against France, but it was not enough to take them to the knockout stages.
The coach, who lifted the World Cup in 1994 with Brazil, revealed that those who envisioned them making the final stages of the tournament were not thinking clearly.
"We have to be realistic, for example with the credentials we had in the Bafana team will it be realistic if we say we had to go to the final looking at the players we had and looking at the FIFA rankings?" asked Parreira.
"So that's why I never put pressure on my players to go to the next round and I just told them to go out and work hard. The players did well.
"When people remind me that we were knocked out in the first round I ask them if they looked at the group we were in. Three of the former World Cup winners were in our group and I think our group was going to be difficult for any other team in this World Cup.
"We were knocked out, but we played some fantastic football," Parreira concluded.
The Brazilian's contract with Bafana is set to expire 30 days after the World Cup final, but his assistant Pitso Mosimane should replace him in the next few days.