Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos said despite the team loosing to Nigeria in the semifinals of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Bouake, Ivory Coast, he is proud of the team.
Both teams were held to a 1-1 draw and extra time, before heading to penalties.
Nigerian captain William Troost-Ekong had given his team a lead, before Teboho Mokoena equalised from the penalty late in the match to take it to extra time.
Bafana Bafana could have sealed the match in the 90th minute, but Khuliso Mudao missed a goal from a rebound after Nigeria’s goalkeeper had failed to deal with a freekick.
Mokoena stepped up to equalise, but that was not the end of the drama as Khuliso Mudau missed a glorious chance from a rebound after Nwabali had failed to deal with a Mokoena freekick.
The Super Eagles, as Nigeria is affectionately known, then won the match during the penalty shootout.
“Football can be very hard sometimes, when you see the performance of my team today, and then there’s penalties and then you lose the game, and you’re not in the final, it’s hard to accept that,” said Broos.
The coach said they dominated Nigeria, but however missed many opportunities to score the goals.
“We played a good game today.
I think we were the best team in the first half, we had the best chances.
Nigeria didn’t have one chance, nothing, and in the second half they had few chances they could have scored.
Two minutes before the end of the 90 minutes, we had three chances, if we could have scored them, we would be going to the finals, and not Nigeria,” highlighted Broos.
Despite the loss, the Belgian mentor is confident that the team had a good showing at the AFCON, and not only during the Nigeria match, but the whole tournament.
“I’m very proud, very proud of my players, what they did, what they performed not only today, but I also think you have to be proud as a coach,” explained the coach.
The coach is adamant that the team’s performance managed to catch the attention of the international football fraternity, and that everyone knows South Africa now as a good team.
“Now I know the world knows South African players now, as a good playing team.
I really think for some players there’s a door open now to Europe.
Certainly, a good thing for South African football, the interest in South African football is again there, and I think that is important too,” applauded Broos.
Bafana Bafana still have a chance to win a trophy, during playoff for third and fourth place on Saturday night against the Democratic Republic of Congo, after they lost 1-0 against Ivory Coast in the other semifinals.
The Super Eagles will play host nation Ivory Coast in the final on Sunday.
