Teboho Mokoena went through the full emotional spectrum in South Africa's World Cup match against the Czech Republic where he converted a late penalty in a 1-1 draw on Thursday.
Mokoena was seen crying when the national anthem was played, he then picked up a second yellow card which will rule him out of the crucial final group match against South Korea where thanks to his 83rd-minute spot kick the team still has a chance to advance.
"I was completely overwhelmed, I thought of my late grandfather," he said of his pre-game emotions.
"I felt his presence. I think he would be proud if he were here. I know that he always believed in me, even when no one else did."
Harmless South Africa had been unable to break down the Czech defence and did not register a first effort on target until the 74th minute before Mokoena sent goalkeeper Matěj Kovář the wrong way from the penalty spot in the 83rd minute after a Pavel Šulc handball.
The Czechs paid the price for becoming passive soon after their sixth-minute lead from Michal Sadilek, set up by Aleksandr Sojka after a long throw-in from Vladimir Coufal had caused havoc in the South Africa defence.
Patrik Schick had wasted a chance before their goal and they only briefly threatened again in the first minutes of the second half when Lukáš Červ was denied by Ronwen Williams and Schick headed into the arms of the keeper on the ensuing corner kick.
"We're disappointed with this result because I think that, if we look at the chances, we were closer to winning, but we made a mistake that cost us the tie," Czech coach Miroslav Koubek said.
Both teams picked up their first point after having lost their opening games, the Czechs 2-1 against South Korea and South Africa 2-0 against co-hosts Mexico.
Mexico play South Korea later on Thursday, with the winner qualified for the last 32. The final group matches next week are Czech Republic v Mexico and South Africa v South Korea.
"It's a little bit of a pity that it's only 1-1 but we just have to win the game against Korea Republic which will be very difficult too. If we play with the same mentality, it will be possible," South Africa coach Hugo Broos saod.
The top two from each of the 12 groups reach the round of 32 along with the eight best third-place finishers.
South Africa have never gone beyond the group stage, the Czechs for the last time in 1990 when they reached the quarter-finals.
Thursday's match was officiated by American Tori Penso, the second woman in charge of a men's World Cup game, four years after Stephanie Frappart of France was the referee for Germany v Costa Rica.
