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Mokoena: It was tough out there

Johannesburg - South Africa captain Aaron Mokoena was left full of respect for Mexico following his team's 1-1 draw with El Tri on Friday evening.

In a closely fought Soccer World Cup opener at Soccer City, Mexico's Rafael Marques (78) cancelled out a superb 54th minute strike by man of the match Siphiwe Tshabalala.

And while Mokoena was naturally targeting maximum points against the Central Americans, he remains pleased with his team's spirited display against higher ranked opposition.

"Mexico let me tell you are an absolutely difficult team to play against," he told Football365.co.za.

"I'm still saying I want to see how far they are going to get in this tournament. They pressed from every angle, everywhere on the pitch.

"They didn't allow us to play. We had to make sure that we didn't slip up and that we defended as a team.

"We did that. In the second half we created a lot of chances. Unfortunately we couldn't convert but we just want to take positives out of this match.

"Look, it was a good start. A 1-1 draw against a good side is a good result. Against Uruguay it's going to be a completely different game so for us we just have to focus."

Mokoena, affectionately known as 'Mbazo', also said he was pleased with Tshabalala's brilliant form down the left flank.

"I'm not surprised about 'Shabba'. He scored a fantastic goal, didn't he? He scored a cracker so he deserved to be man of the match.

"All the boys were fantastic, we gave it our all. But it's good to have Shabba as goalscorer and man of the match."

Mbazo added that he was thrilled with the support the team received on the night and called for more of the same in the future.

"Also, we appreciate the support from the fans, we really do. And I hope the fans will be behind the boys.

"Today the fans became the top player that we need. I hope the fans will be behind Bafana Bafana throughout. It's going to be hard at times, but we need them more than anything," he concluded. 
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