* Football can be hard sometimes, when you see the performance of my team today
* 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 today
* Nigeria to face hosts Côte d’Ivoire in the final on Sunday, February 11
Maravi Express
South Africa coach, Hugo Broos feels his side played better against Nigeria in their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Côte d’Ivoire 2023 semi-finals encounter which they lost 2-4 on post-match penalties after Bafana Bafana came back from a goal down to take the game to penalties but ended up losing.
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In a post-match interview, Broos emphasized his side played much better and deserved to win the game: “Football can be hard sometimes, when you see the performance of my team today, 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 today.
“I think we were the best team in the first half, we got the best chances, Nigeria didn’t have any chance. Second half they have few chances which resulted in a goal and we changed something tactically, and we could comeback.
“We created more chances which means if we had scored, we would have been in the final and not Nigeria.”
The Belgian tactician nonetheless hailed his team for what has been a great tournament for them: “It’s a big disappointment for everyone, we believe we played a very good game, not just today but throughout the tournament.
“I’m proud of my players, the disappointment is this but the proudness is that,” he said as he now prepares to face DR Congo in the third place playoff on Saturday.
It was a captivating 120 minutes of excellent football that looked like Nigeria would win it when Victor Osimhen scored late, only for VAR to instead award South Africa a lifeline penalty.
Nigeria made the early running in a cagey first half with lively Iwobi brought the best from goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, whose reflex save kept things goalless.
South Africa responded in kind, Evidence Makgopa curling just wide before Percy Tau was thwarted when clean through and the tension ratcheted after the break as both keepers took center stage.
Nigeria’s Stanley Nwabali acrobatically denied Makgopa once more, while at the other end Williams stood firm to repel Osimhen — setting the scene for high drama in the closing stages.
Nigeria earned a 67th minute penalty when Osimhen was flattened, which Troost-Ekong converted emphatically and sensing blood, a frenzied Nigeria pressed for the killer second.
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They thought they had it through Osimhen, but VAR intervened to spot an earlier foul and a few minutes later, South Africa were awarded a lifeline penalty instead, dispatched by Mokoena.
So to extra time, where fatigue stifled attacking fluency and with legs heavy and nerves jangling, a shootout felt inevitable.
There, goalkeeping heroics from Nwabali gave Nigeria the edge in the shootout and his two saves booked the Super Eagles’ passage to Sunday’s final.
As Nwabali wheeled away in celebration, joy unconfined for Nigeria, this was agony for South Africa as keeper Ronwen Williams — who saved four penalties last round — was inconsolable as his AFCON dream died.
While Williams correctly guessed the direction of two Nigerian penalties, his hands couldn’t match his intuition. Nwabali showed no such mercy, diving to deny both Mokoena and Mayambela.
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As Nigeria soak up the raptures of reaching the final, Williams is left inconsolable — four days ago he was the hero, now South Africa’s brokenhearted goalkeeper.
Nigeria now stand one win away from a fourth African crown. Propelled by Nwabali’s shootout brilliance, Sunday’s final against hosts Côte d’Ivoire sees them as a strong contenders for the title.
In the other semifinal, hosts Côte d’Ivoire beat DR Congo 1-0 thanks to Sebastien Haller’s goal when he superbly flicked in Nicolas Pepe’s cross to break the Congolese hearts.
For Haller, facing Nigeria with a trophy on the line represents a remarkable twist of fate as the Borussia Dortmund hitman has established himself in the Elephants after recovering from testicular cancer.
Now the 29-year-old returns intent on breaking Nigerian hearts as he will spearhead the Côte d’Ivoire attack alongside Pepe as they target a historic triumph.
Victory would spark jubilation in Abidjan given this AFCON is on home soil after struggling in their group but the Elephants now have momentum despite unconvincing performances.
Against DR Congo they rode their luck, with Cedric Bakambu having a goal disallowed but Haller’s quality shone through as he rifled home to book Côte d’Ivoire’s passage.
Nigeria will prove a sterner test, especially with Haller’s former teammates seeking vengeance but in this form, the striker threatens to inspire his country to their first AFCON crown since 2015.—Reporting by CAFonline
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