Hugo Broos, South Africa’s coach, has explained why his team was defeated by the Nigerian Super Eagles in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, or AFCON, semi-final on Wednesday.
Broos, who believed that Nigeria had no chances in the first half, pointed out that Bafana Bafana could have qualified for the AFCON final if they had scored one of their three chances before the completion of the 90-minute period.
“When you see the performance of my team today and then there are penalties and you lose the game, you are not in the final; it’s hard to accept that because we played a very good game today,” Broos said at his post-match press conference.
“I think we were the best team in the first half; we had the best chances. Nigeria didn’t have one chance—no, nothing. Second half, ok, they had a few chances and scored.
“But then we changed something tactically and we could come back, but two minutes before the end of the 90 minutes, we had again three chances. So if we could score there, it is us going to the final and not Nigeria.”
The Super Eagles defeated South Africa 4-2 via penalty shootout in the semi-final clash.
In the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes, Man of the Match Stanley Nwabali saved two penalties for the Super Eagles during the shootout.
Jose Peseiro’s team will lock horns with the host nation, Ivory Coast, in the AFCON final on Sunday.
