Criticism surrounds the South African coach.

South Africa's national team coach, Hugo Broos, stated that he will not pay any attention to the "nonsense" being published about him, referring to the criticisms he has faced, as the "Bafana Bafana" team seeks to get back on track in their World Cup participation when they face the Czech Republic on Thursday.

Broos's team began their campaign in the tournament with a 0-2 loss to Mexico after finishing the match with nine players in Mexico City, but they still have time to recover and attempt to reach the knockout stages for the first time.

Broos said defiantly at a press conference on the eve of the match in Atlanta on Wednesday: "Right now I am being criticized, but people need to know, for those who still don't know, that I do things my way, and I never listen to the nonsense on social media."

He added: "I know what went wrong. We had a debriefing session two days after the Mexico match. The players know that, and that is the most important thing," and continued: "When you win, you are the king. Eight months ago, when we qualified for the World Cup at the expense of Rwanda on our home ground, someone told me that a statue should be made for me in South Africa," then he added: "I told him: make it out of wood, so it burns more easily when I lose, and that is what is happening now. So I have enough experience not to look or listen to that."

South Africa's group faces South Korea in their final match in Group A, but Broos believes that facing the Czech Republic will be crucial in the qualification path to the knockout stages.

Achieving just one win may be enough to reach the Round of 32, as the best eight teams finishing third among the 12 groups will qualify.

He added: "It is very critical for me. If we lose, I think the task will be extremely difficult, even through third place, to reach the next round."