Bafana Bafana midfielder Teko Modise says the team’s priority for their final group fixture against France on Tuesday is honour rather than the unlikely event that results will conspire to see them into the last 16.

Their 3-0 loss to Uruguay leaves their fate in others’ hands, and they may be eliminated even if they win in Bloemfontein. Modise said:

 

“World Cup qualification is not in our hands, so for us the priority is rather about honour. We want to do well against France so that we leave the fans with something to remember us by.

“If it doesn’t happen that we qualify, we want to leave the tournament with our heads held high.”

South Africa goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune has been given a one-match ban by FIFA after his sending-off against Uruguay.

FIFA have defined his specific offence as “denying the opposition a goalscoring opportunity,” which attracts the minimum post-match sanction for a dismissal.

Meanwhile midfielder Macbeth Sibaya has nipped in the bud any stories of rifts within the camp after the Uruguay defeat.

Bafana Bafana’s next opponents, France, are riven with dissent. But Sibaya insisted: “Now that we lost, the journalists need negative stories. But there is no tension or problems amongst anyone.”