South Africa have made it through to the semi-finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations after overcoming Cape Verde 2-1 via penalty shootouts in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
South Africa’s Bafana Bafana were mere shadows of their composed and clinical round of 16 display as Cape Verde entirely dominated the first half with smart positioning and short passes.
Read Also: AFCON 2023: Nwabali Keen To Battle South Africa In Semis
Both teams did have numerous scoring opportunities, keeping the game adventurous and fans on the edge of their seats for much of this clash of high-aiming underdogs.
In the end, neither of the two sides was able to find the winner after 120 minutes of a physical and pacy contest.
South Africa’s Bafana Bafana/Cape Verde’s Blue Sharks eventually clinched the win they needed in the dramatic penalty shootout to reach the semifinals. They now stand to take on Nigeria’s Super Eagles for a spot in the final.
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COMMENTS
This is the end of the road for the Hugo bross tutored Bafana.SE will surely prevail our SA.
Over
Wishing naija nothing but the best
Naija up naija!
Herrh naija dey form rufff lol
@ SelfMade, thank you for wishing naija best of luck. You are a good man. Please keep the spirit .
No team is stopping this Nigerian team I swear!
The site planner has really find the right formation for SUPER SUPER EAGLES and no team ks stopping these fellas!
What a baller Nigerian players has being in this tournament!
Wishing Nigeria nothing but the best!
Omo naija ll win this cup!!
Naija we hail theee ooooo lol
2 West African teams and 2 Southern African teams. All former winners at least once. Looking like a Nigeria/CIV final. The hosts have been hardworking but also have been riding their luck. Will finally run out in the final.
South Africa is Nigeria DAILY BREAD lol
They ll crack em up easily
South Africa has no midfield and blunt attack!
Hahaha. Sure, man.
But playing a determinated CIV in final will be playing against the entire stadium.
Oh well, let’s skip SA first by God’s grace this Wednesday.
Haba! Congo na East Africa oooh, no be Southern Africa…
Let’s go with our A game and execute, Kelechi Iheanacho will be needed as an extra Arsenal to shoot down South African park the bus approach, he will be another option to shot good balls since SA will park the Bus at Osimhen and Looku. Simon should operate in place of Zaidu and Lookman take on the Left side attack for Kelechi to operate from Right wing leaving Osigoal in the middle toggling with the Zulu men to free other attackers. This game is for our taking against a South African side that makes a lot of noise, we will win this game and Conquer CIV in a tug of war. Suggested Line-up Nwabali- Ajayi Ekong Bassey- Aina Alhassan Iwobi Simon- Lookman Osimhen Kelechi- 3-4-3. Simon is a versatile player he will function well at the lwb. We need players that can make use of the ball and release when at the final end, we can’t afford anymore miss using of chances and the Ball. This is war not football anymore lol kidding but seriously there’s a lot on the line!!!
I don’t want to be thinking of the final match, but it seems like Nigeria vs. Ivory Coast at this year Afcon final.
But let beat South Africa first before thinking of the final.
South Africa will be easier than Angola, but Eagles have to take their chances.
Can Super Eagles take their chances? That is the question for the coach.
My worry is late substitutions of the Super Eagles coach.
He doesn’t have trust in his reserve bench, in my opinion.
If we look deeper into our match against Angola, our players were overused. What is the point of having a reserve bench?
When you make subs around 89 minutes of the match and expect the players that come in to wonders. I don’t think it is logical that way.
I will ask the question again. Why did the coach take Nacho and Moffi to Afcon but not allowed to play?
This is not about winning every game, but there must be something behind this, and if care is not taken, coach Paseiro attitude may come back to hurt him.
Nigerians are not talking because the coach is now the Messiah of the Super Eagles, but I am sorry I won’t be deceived by that at all.
We were very lucky against Angola, but against South Africa, the coach should think otherwise.
Eagles are wasteful in front of the goal while Zaidu is a minus one in the team, and the coach even praised him when they asked him about Zaidu. I am speechless.
We need Moffi and Nacho against South Africa. The coach should stop making his substitutions late.
This is why Super Eagles has been struggling to score goals in this tournament.
There is no creativity in this team while Iwobi is trying his best, but the service of Nwakali is still missing in the team while Dessers would have complimenting Osimhen in this tournament.
Although, Moffi has never justified his inclusion in the Super Eagles, but what of Nacho then?
We should be worried about coach Paseiro if we have to win this Afcon.
I know you, Nigerians. You people will be saying omo9ja what else do you want the coach to do butif you can study Super Eagles inside out then you will understand that Eagles coach should listen and humble himself. We need that Afcon trophy more than anything, although I don’t believe in him until he will this Afcon.
I believe what Oga Rohr failed to accomplish in six years, Oga Paseiro can achieve that in this year Afcon because we have the players no excuse.
As a Nigerian, I wish the gaffer a successful outing in Ivory Coast. Please and please Oga Paseiro listen to us because this is the way warned Oga Rohr, but the former world-class coach did not listen and where he is today.
A word is enough for the wise. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
Omo9ja you complained a lot. Too much complaints. Always seeing an error. Really it’s not bad to do this but let’s look at some of your complaint.
1. We are playing s difficult match in the quarters. We have a slim lead. You want him to bring in moffi who you know is not reliable. So if Angola equalizes you will be the first to blame him that why did he remove Oshimen. You will say a weak Oshimen is better than moffi.
2. You said you fear for pesero. What should be the fear here. You see almost all of us crucified this man before the tournament. For me there is no fear for him again. He really surpassed my expectations.
3. On iheanacho, I agree to some extent with you here. But we don’t really know the state of iheanacho. And those on the field have given their A games so far. He can only play in place of ademola or Simon or iwobi. The formation we are using is nor even helping his case. It’s tough. The coach is not God. He can’t be perfect. Let’s wish the team well
You said he brought moffi. No he didn’t bring moffi. Moffi only replaced Boniface.
We need to be focused and not be complacent. South Africa is really beatable. But we must be focused again.
Some people are ruling out congo Dr already. Hmmm. That may just be a shocker to everyone. They can stun the host. They way they defeated guinea showed they are a good team.
It may just be Nigeria vs Congo Dr.
The host is weakened with two red cards already. That’s a big minus.
For Nigeria: it’s just two more matches and we are there.
Thanks to Selfmade King for wishing Nigeria well.
I love people who criticize when it’s necessary and support or encourage when it’s necessary. Thumbs up selfmade King
How would I complain? We see things differently, and we all can not keep muted just because we are winning kę.
This is the time we have to come to get to help the coach by telling him what he has to improve if he has to play at the final.
I did my analysis based on what I saw the coach doing since the beginning of this Afcon.
If not because we put intense pressure on the gaffer, he would have preferred Uzoho to Nwabali, and by now, Nigeria would have been kicked out of the Afcon.
If the coach had issues with Nacho, they should settle the matter amicably between each others but the most important thing is that he should play Nacho from now on.
Nacho might be the solution to Super Eagles, one goal per match.
The gaffer should always remember this, some of us still don’t want Super Eagles to win the Afcon trophy because of Oga Rohr.
These people are praying day and night so that Super Eagles can fail so that they can prove a point nba kę.
Who does that. You want your country to fail because Oga Rohr who failed woefully at the end of his tenure.
This is why I am warning Oga Paseiro to swallow his pride before the South Africa match.
Lastly, I’m not putting pressure on the coach, but those with him should have some words with him, period. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
Omo9ja is right to some extent. The Coach poor attitude to changes at crucial time during the match is something to be worried about. He didn’t manage the players well enough. In the last match Osimhen was exhausted due to his all round play & he should have take him out earlier like 80th minute. Onyeka was battling with pain yet he also overlook.
If you’re to analyze that properly, that will be a short 2 because 2 of your players can no longer perform at this highest level due to fatigue. As a Coach, he need to bring in fresh legs who are capable enough.
He is actually givng a wrong signal that he doesn’t trust the players on the bench enough. It’s as simple as that.
As for Zaidu, someone suggested Simon taking is role and that’s a beautiful idea. Anything Zaidu thinks he can do defensively, Simon can also do that and he will add bite to the midfield better than the weaken Zaidu.
The Zaidu guy has been an eyesore, an embarrassment to himself offensively. Onyemachi is a better player offensively but I’ve not observed him properly defensively in a tensed match, so Simon will be a better replacement, while Ihaenacho takes the place of Simon upfront but if we’re still unable to get the goals with Ihaenacho inclusion which i doubt, he can sub him, then draft Simon back to his position if he’s not tired and Put Aina there then Osayi takes the right wing back position.
Energetic Alhassan should also be put into use if at any point Iwobi is tired or Onyeka. The Coach should be proactive and take out player who isn’t given his best or exhausted otherwise, he will be a liability to the team.
However, i would have preferred 3-5-2 so we can put more body in the midfield which will allow Iwobi to function as a playmaker, then Yusuf and Onyeka play as double 4. Aina and Simon as wing backs then Bassey, Ekong & Ajayi center backs, while Lookman pair Osimhen upfront. In the latter stage of the match, Ihaenacho can replace Iwobi because he’s more creative and shoot outside the box better. He also has that ability to unlock a stubborn defence with a splitting through pass.
@Sean T, you understand how football works, and I agree with you.
Any day, any time, I prefer Onyemachi to Zaidu. That Onyemachi is better, but the gaffer is following WA ZO BIA system. The most important thing at this stage is to put the best players to represent.
As I said earlier, just because we are winning, nobody does the talking except only a few of us.
South Africa match is a different ball game entirely, and if the coach continues this way, our boys will burn out before 90 minutes plus the hot weather, which is another challenge to our players.
No matter what, if the coach can follow what you said above, Super Eagles will perform well against South Africa than what they have done in this tournament.
More so, Oga Paseiro should go back and watch Cape Verde vs. South Africa match. That match exposed bafana bafana, and it also shows their capability, but Cape Verde would have won the match, but they were wasteful in front of the goal, while the South Africa game plan was to play penalties.
I hope Super Eagles won’t be that wasteful as Cape Verde did otherwise, bafana bafana might punish them.
This is where Nacho comes in. We needed senior man against South Africa badly. Fingers crossed. Good luck to Super Eagles. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
Nigerians should make it abundantly clear that he has to use Iheanacho now. Zaidu should be dropped for Iheanacho.
Edoman. Pesero will not drop zaidu. It will disrupt his winning defensive plan. Let’s hope for the best
Angola was tougher than SA, Cape Verde for beat them sef if no be say dem no take their chances. Bye Bye Bafana Bafana, Eagles go send you parking to Johannesburg
Bafana Bafana will be tough.
All of u clamouring for Nachos do u not fear that awesome three man attack? Simon, lookman and Osimhen . Who among the 3 should the coach bench for Nacho at this stage. I’m a big fan of Nacho and will definitely love to see him play but unfortunately there is no space for him now and even Mofi . Believe me with the form Simon and lookman are showing the two might not play till the end. For Zaidu , we have to manage him for now . He is not our dream left wing back but he the best in Camp. The coach is observing them at closer range than us so he knows better. Onyemachi may be good has a full back but not as a wingback which demands a lot of strength and calculation. So pls leave the coach to do his job. For me I rate him higher than Rohr.
Personally I think it is premature to suggest that Iheanacho might be less effective in this formation without first seeing how actually performs within it.
Yes, on paper, Iheanacho appears to be ill-suited to this formation just because he is not known for his ‘tracking back’ and defensive capabilities. But, the likes of Frank Onyeka and Calvin Bassey have shown us that what we see on the page doesn’t always translate on the pitch.
Look at Paul Onuachu, who would have known that he would perform a defensive-“attacking role effortlessly, retaining possession, attacking fouls and just adding a fresh ring into the passing chain of the team. Onuachu would have been the last player on the bench (on paper) to perform that manufactured role. In fact, Iheanacho’s cunningness, guile, trickery, fancy footwork, fragility, vision and passing eloquence would have made him more suited (on paper) to that role than Onuachu but the coach knows best.
Chukwueze was given the opportunity to stake a claim in that much vaunted front three and I personally think he did an okay job it’s just that Simon is more robust and grounded while Lookman is more ambidextrous and incentive. But Chukwueze hasn’t been worthless, he is just up against two wingers with more bite.
It would have been helpful for Iheanacho to actually be given the opportunity to compete with Lookman, Chukwueze and Simon so we actually see on the pitch (instead of the paper) how he manages to reinvent himself. If Peseiro can rejuvenate the team, if Onyeka can redefine his role, so can Iheanacho.
But we have to respect the decision of a coach who is achieving results.
Zaidu’s deliveries have been subpar but his positioning has been sublime in maintaining team shape and synergy.
That said, I think Peseiro is shooting himself in the foot by retaining Zaidu. Nigeria would have easily scored 4 more goals of it was another savvy wingback had been in the place Peseiro’s instructions located Zaidu in games against Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and Guinea Bissau. Even Bassey’s deliveries from centre back have had better quality as was Bassey’s cut back for Lookman’s goal against Cameroon.
I had hoped Peseiro would have allowed Uzoho to use this tournament to redecorate his image in the minds of Super Eagles fans. Rather it was Nwabili that has grabbed his opportunity with both gloves to benefit from a revamped 3-4-3 formation (with centre backs making far few costly errors and a Frank Onyeka shielding them with his life).
Anyways we’ll done to the whole team and their coach, they have done well.