Johannesburg - Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs has hit out at critics who claim the national team played weaker opposition during their month-long camp in Brazil.
The World Cup hosts won five games, drew three and lost one during the tour of coach Carlos Alberto Parreira's homeland. The Orlando Pirates stopper has slammed reports stating his team-mates had it easy in the South America country.
"Reserves? You know what they can compete in our PSL. They are top, top players we played in Brazil you know. For me in South Africa we are quick to judge, but I can tell you that we played top teams there and we did well against them," he told Football365.co.za.
"They keep the ball on the ground, they play football and that's what we went to learn over there. We also went there to get an identity for our football and that's what we did.
"We got on shape as well and all together we can be confident of what we did there, but there is still a lot of work to do.
"Defensively we did really well and that was the aim. When we are in Germany, we are going to combine it with going forward and we will get better as a team."
South African Football Association president Kirsten Nematandani also assured the nation that the camp was no waste of time.
"We are getting ready for the World Cup and the camp in Brazil helped us do that. We believe this is a step in the right direction and we will see the results of this during the tournament," he said.
The World Cup hosts won five games, drew three and lost one during the tour of coach Carlos Alberto Parreira's homeland. The Orlando Pirates stopper has slammed reports stating his team-mates had it easy in the South America country.
"Reserves? You know what they can compete in our PSL. They are top, top players we played in Brazil you know. For me in South Africa we are quick to judge, but I can tell you that we played top teams there and we did well against them," he told Football365.co.za.
"They keep the ball on the ground, they play football and that's what we went to learn over there. We also went there to get an identity for our football and that's what we did.
"We got on shape as well and all together we can be confident of what we did there, but there is still a lot of work to do.
"Defensively we did really well and that was the aim. When we are in Germany, we are going to combine it with going forward and we will get better as a team."
South African Football Association president Kirsten Nematandani also assured the nation that the camp was no waste of time.
"We are getting ready for the World Cup and the camp in Brazil helped us do that. We believe this is a step in the right direction and we will see the results of this during the tournament," he said.