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Bafana Bafana can be very proud of their 2-1 victory over France. It was a tremendous display of football which united and inspired a nation.

Our exit from the tournament should not detract from the nature of this result - a victory over former world champions, in front of our home fans, on the grandest stage of all. Bafana have showed all the passion we could have asked for, and this result must rank alongside our African Cup of Nations win over Tunisia in 1996, as one of the finest in our country's footballing history.

I believe many young South Africans, in particular, will be inspired by what they have seen from Bafana Bafana, and that is exactly what this tournament is about - bringing South Africans together, and motivating us to reach even greater heights in the future.

This tournament continues to be an extraordinary success for South Africa, both on and off the pitch. I have no doubt that South Africans will continue to embrace the tournament, as they have done over the last week and a half, and that we remain on course for hosting the greatest World Cup ever.