* For many people, it was unexpected but we did it and ensure South Africa become a good team
* And also it’s more than 20 years ago that South Africa played in the semi-finals
Maravi Express
South Africa coach, Hugo Broos has said his side are motivated to play against Nigeria in the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Côte d’Ivoire 2023 set for tomorrow.
Advertisement
Broos said getting to the semi-finals is motivating for them based on the country’s recent performance in the AFCON, saying: “We are very happy and motivated that we play tomorrow in the semi-finals.
“For many people, it was unexpected but we did it and ensure South Africa become a good team and also it’s more than 20 years ago that South Africa played in the semi-finals and even more than that we played in the finals, so what that means is that we have a lot of motivation.”
The Belgian tactician admitted to Nigeria’s quality but still maintained his confidence in his squad for the crucial game: “We are playing against a good team tomorrow, number 6 in the ranking, that means a lot for players playing for us.”
Nigeria have had upper hand on South Africa in recent meetings but it’s not a worrying situation for Hugo Broos: “For many, Nigeria are the favorite to win but it’s not always the case in football, we are confident and motivated to try and ensure it doesn’t happen and South Africa will play in the final for the first time in 20 years,” he said.
This will be the fourth encounter between Nigeria and South Africa at the AFCON, with the Super Eagles winning the previous three by an aggregate score of 8-1.
They last met in the semi-finals at the AFCON 2000, with the Super Eagles running out 2-0 winners thanks to a brace from Tijani Babangida.
Match facts and figures
Nigeria
* The Super Eagles have just three different goal scorers (excluding own goals) at AFCON 2023 (Lookman, Osimhen and Troost-Ekong), their fewest in a single edition since 2008 (2, Yakubu and Mikel).
* Victor Osimhen has only scored one goal despite attempting the most shots (19) at the Côte d’Ivoire 2023 — a shot conversion rate of 5.3%, with an expected goals tally of 3.09; he’s underperforming his xG by a bigger margin than any other player (-2.09).
Weather update
* Nigeria have the highest expected goals (8.59) tally and the most big chances (18) at AFCON 2023, with all six of their goals coming inside the box — only Côte d’Ivoire (46) have had more shots from inside the box than the Super Eagles (44).
* They are playing in a record 15th semi-final at the AFCON, while they’ve only progressed from one of their last six at this stage of the competition, going on to win the competition in South Africa in 2013.
* They have won their last four AFCON games without conceding; they could keep five consecutive clean sheets in the competition for the first time since March 1982 (W4 D1), while they’ve never done so when winning all five games.
South Africa
* Bafana Bafana are playing in their fourth semi-final at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations and their first since 2000 when they were eliminated by opponents Nigeria (2-0).
* They have kept four consecutive clean sheets at the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time (W2 D2), while it’s as many as they’d recorded in their previous 21 matches in the competition combined.
* At this Côte d’Ivoire edition, South Africa have had six shots following a high turnover — only Egypt have had more (7), while only Morocco (9) have had more direct attacks than the Bafana Bafana (8) in the competition.
* Themba Zwane has been directly involved in 50% (3/6) of South Africa’s goals in Côte d’Ivoire (two goals, one assist), while he could become the first Bafana Bafana player to score three goals in a single edition of AFCON since Shaun Bartlett’s 5 in 2000.—Reporting by CAFonline
Advertisement