The head Coach of South Africa, Hugo Henri Broos (thinks South Africa’s Bafana Bafana team played better against Nigeria's Super Eagles team in Wednesday’s semi-final encounter, in which they lost 2-4 on penalty kicks.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Bafana Bafana came back from a goal down to take the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) game to extra time.
Broos, while reacting to their defeat, emphasized that South Africa's team played much better and deserved to win the game.
He said, Football can be hard sometimes, when you look at the performance of Bafana Bafana today (Wednesday), and then there were the penalty kicks. Then you lose the penalty shootout, and you are not in the finals.
It’s difficult to accept defeat because my team played a very good game today. I think we were the best team in the first half; we had the best chances, but Nigeria’s Super Eagles team didn’t have any chances.
During the second half, they had few chances, which resulted in a goal, and we changed something tactically, and we came back,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, Broos stressed that his team created more chances, noting that if they had scored, they would have been in the final and not Nigeria.
The Belgian football manager hailed his team for what has been a great tournament for them.
It’s a big dismay for everyone, and we believe we played a very good game, not only today but in every part of the tournament.
Broos however, acknowledged his Players noting that he is proud of them. He added that the disappointment is in not being in the final, but the pride is in having performed well.
It was gathered that South Africa will face DR Congo in the third-place playoff on Saturday.
