South Africa head coach Hugo Broos has declared that his side will not lose focus in their AFCON semifinal clash with the Super Eagles of Nigeria after his side’s dramatic penalty win over Cape Verde on Saturday night, www.aclsports.com reports.
Bafana Bafana qualified for the semi-finals of the AFCON for the first time in 24 years after eliminating the Blue Sharks on spot-kicks, with Ronwen Williams saving an incredible four penalties.
After seeing his side progress, Broos stated that his side will be ready for the semi-final match-up with Nigeria on Wednesday in Bouake.
“The semi-final match will be different against Nigeria, which has good players like (Ademola) Lookman. We will not lose focus, the players will be in good condition, so we need to rest and recover to start our preparation,” the 2017 AFCON winner with Cameroon said.
On the incredible win over Cape Verde, Broos spoke about the stressful contest, hailing the Sundowns goalkeeper for a superb performance.
“Let’s say six hours ago I was 71, now I’m 75,” Broos said after the match. “It was a stressful game, certainly the penalties. You know what happens when you have to take penalties, it’s a very special situation for the players.
“Sometimes you do a little game after training, taking penalties and nearly no player misses a penalty but you see today what happened, not only with us but also the players from Cape Verde.
“That means, we can be happy, but players want to get a penalty. We were, not lucky because we had a very good keeper today. If you can save four penalties, this is not luck anymore. You can save one, but four, this is not luck. He [Williams] did not only that, he saved us two minutes before the end with a player that was alone in front of him. Yes, he was of the match. I think we could choose nobody else because he is Man of the Match.”
Broos, though, also admitted that it wasn’t a great display by his team, saying the pressure may have gotten to some of his players.
“Our match was not so good, I think we played the worst game of the tournament of all our games. We played better against Mali, we played better against Namibia, Tunisia, and also Morocco.”
“Today, this was not the team we saw in the previous week. I think for some players it’s a very new experience, and maybe the pressure and the nerves played a role today in the game,” the veteran tactician concluded.
The semi-final clash between Nigeria and South Africa – a repeat of the AFCON 2000 semifinal – will take place by 5pm (6pm Nigerian time) at Stade de la Paix de Bouaké on Wednesday.
