The disappointment of Saturday's 2-0 defeat still hung heavy in the air at the Greece training camp in the northern Durban suburbs as the team prepared for Thursday's Group B clash in Bloemfontein.
A storm of criticism back home followed the loss with one newspaper calling for the team to be brought home rather than risk further embarrassing the nation, and others urging a less defensive approach.
"We have shown in big matches in recent years that we always have a compact defence and we play with fast counter-attacks and that's what we must do again," he told a news conference.
"In all the big matches we have played so far, that's the way we play."
"Statistics are for newspapers and media," he said. "We don't go on the pitch thinking about the past.
"The most important thing is to work as a team and achieve things as a team. History is made by teams and not by individuals in football."
