Hugo Broos
South Africa’s head coach Hugo Broos revealed that his side played better against Nigeria in Wednesday’s semi-final encounter which they lost 2-4 on penalty kicks.
Reacting to the outcome of the match, Broos explained that his side played much better and deserved to move on to the final of the 2023 AFCON.
“Football can be hard sometimes, when you look at the performance of my team today (Wednesday), and then there were the penalty kicks. Then you lose the penalty shootout and you are not in the finals.
“It’s hard to accept that, because we played a 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.
“In the second half, they had few chances which resulted in a goal and we changed something tactically, and we came back,” he said.
He insisted that his team created more chances, adding that if they had scored, they would have been in the final and not Nigeria.
Broos therefore hailed the South African side, noting that the tournament has been a great one for them.
“It’s a big disappointment for everyone, and we believe we played a very good game, not just today but throughout the tournament.
“I’m proud of my players. The disappointment is in not being in the final, but the pride is in having performed well,” he said.
