Bafana Bafana’s African Cup of Nations (AFCON) ambitions went up in smoke after suffering a heartbreaking 4-2 defeat in the penalty shootout against Nigeria on Wednesday.
Nigeria entered the match with a perfect record against South Africa in the premier African football competition, having won three previous meetings.
The Super Eagles beat Bafana Bafana 2-0 in a 2000 semi-final in Nigeria, 4-0 in a group match four years later in Tunisia, and 2-1 in a 2019 quarter-final in Egypt.
South Africa coach Hugo Broos said he is proud of his side despite their heartbreaking semifinal loss at the Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast.
“Football can be hard sometimes, when you see the performance of my team, and then there is penalties, and then you lose the penalties and you are not in the finals, it’s hard to accept that because we play very good game,” Broos said.
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“I think we were the best team in the first half, we got the best chances, Nigeria didn’t have any chances. Second half they had few chances which resulted in a goal and we changed something tactically, and we could come back.
Both regular-time goals also came from penalties with captain William Troost-Ekong scoring after 67 minutes for Nigeria and Teboho Mokoena equalized from a 90th-minute spot-kick.
Bafana Bafana will now turn their attention to Saturday’s third-place playoff after they were eliminated from title contention at this year’s delayed Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in the Ivory Coast.
The 1996 AFCON champions,South Africa will take on the Democratic Republic of Congo in that battle for the bronze medal after the second semi-final saw hosts Ivory Coast narrowly beat DR Congo 1-0.
Nigeria and South Africa will renew their rivalry when they go head to head at the Fifa World Cup Qualifying game in June 2024 in Nigeria.
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