Bafana Bafana enter Wednesday night’s 7pm African Cup of Nations semifinal clash against Nigeria as underdogs, according to coach Hugo Broos.
But these underdogs have bite and Broos reckons they can pull off a big upset to make the final of the continental showpiece for the first time since 1998.
Saying they “don’t fear” the big names in the Nigeria lineup, Broos says of tonight’s clash at Stade de la Paix in Ivory Coast: “For many people it was unexpected [to see us in the semifinals] but we did it and that means South Africa became a good team.
“It is now more than 20 years ago that we last played in the semis, even longer that we last played in in the final and that means we’ve got the motivation.
“We are playing against a very good team - the No.6 in the African ranking and they have a lot of players playing abroad.
“It was the same situation a few weeks ago against Morocco. For many people, Nigeria will be favourite.
“But as you know in football, it’s not always the favourite to win. We are motivated to try that it doesn’t happen and that SA is in final for more than 20 years.”
Captain Ronwen Williams adds: “We are so proud to be at this stage, not a lot of people backed us, but we backed ourselves.
“We’ve done our analysis and it’s gonna be a big one. They are the team that KO’d us last time in 2019, so there is a lot at stake and a lot to play for.”
Bafana confident ahead of AFCON semi-final clash against Super Eagles
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) February 6, 2024
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South Africa and Nigeria have faced each other 11 times, with SA winning only once and the Super Eagles six times. Four matches ended in a draw.
In the other semifinal, Ivory Coast tackle DR Congo at 10pm.
Woza Wednesday! We’re getting in the zone for the midweek semi final against Nigeria 🇳![CDATA[]]>🇬 #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 #AFCON2023 #BafanaPride pic.twitter.com/1vYzoR91I9
— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) February 6, 2024
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za