Johannesburg - Danny Jordaan spoke on behalf of South Africa on Tuesday night when he revealed his pride in Bafana Bafana despite their exit from the soccer World Cup.

Carlos Alberto Parreira's men beat France 2-1, but it was notenough to guarantee their progress to the next round - the first time ahost nation has failed to reach the knockout phase.

But despite this, South Africans remain united for the national team, according to the LOC chief executive.

"Bafana Bafana are out of the World Cup but they won the heartsand minds of all South Africans and the whole world tonight (Tuesdaynight)," he said.

"Yes they did not make it past the group stage but they did whatthe country asked of them - they played with pride, passion, skill andcommitment, they gave their best.

"They did the national team jersey and every single SouthAfrican proud and we want to thank them for what they've done for thiscountry."

Jordaan also thanked South Africans for the tremendous support they have shown for the national team.

"The passion and enthusiasm we have seen across the length andbreadth of South Africa in recent weeks has made this tournament trulycome alive for locals and visitors alike," he added.

Jordaan does not believe that South Africa's exit will affect the overall success of the tournament.

"It may be over for Bafana Bafana but it is not over for SouthAfrica. This is still South Africa's World Cup. We are not going home,the World Cup is happening in our home," he said.

"South Africans have already proven their support for Team SouthAfrica. Without millions of them we would not have delivered tenworld-class stadiums, opened new airports, highways and train stationsin record time or welcomed hundreds of thousands of new visitors to ourcountry.

"We would not have already hosted more than half of the World Cup matches successfully," he explained.

"I remain confident that South Africans will continue to befantastic hosts for the next two and a half weeks and make the most ofthis incredible time in our country's history, which has already seenus achieve so much," said Jordaan.

Jordaan said that support for the tournament to date has met allexpectations with a total of 1 570 447 people attending the first 32matches (an average of 49 076).

More than a million people have watched the matches at the tenFIFA Fan Fests in South Africa and hundreds of thousands more havewatched the games in public viewing areas around the country, withWorld Cup matches also shattering television audience records in thecountry.

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