Bloemfontein - Bafana Bafana made South Africa proud and helped unite the nation despite not qualifying for the second round of the 2010 World Cup finals, President Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday.

“You have done South Africa proud. You played very well. It is sad that we did not get to the second round, but it was a big victory over a big side," he told the players in their dressing room after their morale-boosting win.

"Beating France for the first time is an important historical fact,” he said.

Zuma, who was a guest of honour at Bafana's match against France in Bloemfontein on Tuesday afternoon, said Bafana’s performance in the tournament had gone a long way to help unite South Africans.

“Bafana made a big contribution by uniting South Africa during the World Cup," he told the players after their 2-1 win over France, the side ranked ninth best in world soccer.

"People were sceptical about Bafana at the start of the tournament but they came through for us.

"We won a big game against France today, but the real winner was our country. South Africa is the bigger winner by hosting the World Cup,” Zuma said.

Bafana, ranked 83rd in the world, ended their three-match group programme with four points - the same as Mexico.

The Mexicans, however, would progress to the next round with a better goal difference after they lost their final group match 1-0 against group winner Uruguay in Rustenburg on Tuesday.

Bafana had needed to beat the 1998 world champions and 2006 World Cup runners-up by 4-0 to pip Mexico. France finished bottom of the group with one point.

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