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Johannesburg - Pitso Mosimane admits he was bowled over by the way Mexico played in the first half of the Soccer World Cup opener.
Bafana Bafana's assistant coach watched El Tri run rings around his charges at Soccer City on Friday afternoon and was taken aback by their attacking instincts.
The world's 17th-ranked nation seemed to be oblivious to the noise of the vuvuzelas and over 80 000 South African fans who were gunning for Mexico's misfortune.
"Mexico are the most difficult team I have ever faced as a player or coach in my entire life!," Mosimane told Football365.co.za.
"I have never seen people play football like this! We played better in the last 20 minutes when they changed the shape.
"When they played with three upfront it was a problem for us so when they dropped (Cuauhtémoc) Blanco to play a little bit behind the two strikers it was much easier for us to connect some balls and move around the field.
"I respect this team - Mexico is a tough team."
Mosimane revealed that El Tri did not only worry Bafana at the back, but highlighted some positive improvement from his players.
He added: "It was not only the defence. We lost a few chances upfront as well but look Mexico had more experience than us, there is no doubt about that.
"We would have taken it if we had a little bit more experience like you saw Teko (Modise) missed that chance in the second half and Katlego Mphela was unlucky to hit the upright, but if you look at our team now in a year or two we will be talking of a very, very good team."
Bafana Bafana's assistant coach watched El Tri run rings around his charges at Soccer City on Friday afternoon and was taken aback by their attacking instincts.
The world's 17th-ranked nation seemed to be oblivious to the noise of the vuvuzelas and over 80 000 South African fans who were gunning for Mexico's misfortune.
"Mexico are the most difficult team I have ever faced as a player or coach in my entire life!," Mosimane told Football365.co.za.
"I have never seen people play football like this! We played better in the last 20 minutes when they changed the shape.
"When they played with three upfront it was a problem for us so when they dropped (Cuauhtémoc) Blanco to play a little bit behind the two strikers it was much easier for us to connect some balls and move around the field.
"I respect this team - Mexico is a tough team."
Mosimane revealed that El Tri did not only worry Bafana at the back, but highlighted some positive improvement from his players.
He added: "It was not only the defence. We lost a few chances upfront as well but look Mexico had more experience than us, there is no doubt about that.
"We would have taken it if we had a little bit more experience like you saw Teko (Modise) missed that chance in the second half and Katlego Mphela was unlucky to hit the upright, but if you look at our team now in a year or two we will be talking of a very, very good team."
