South Africa head coach Hugo Broos says his team will be adequately prepared for the semi-final clash with Nigeria.
The Bafana Bafana booked a date with the Super Eagles after a thrilling penalty shootout win against Cape Verde on Saturday night.
Broos’ side will be playing in the semi-finals for the first time since 2000.
“When we got to the penalty shootout, it was a special thing for the players, because during training they were scoring them. When we have a goalkeeper who stops 4 penalty kicks, this is not luck but a lot of hard work,”Broos was quoted by CAFonline.
Read Also:AFCON 2023: South Africa Edge Cape Verde On Penalties, Set Up Semi-Final Clash With Nigeria
“Not many people in South Africa believed in this team, but we believed in it, and the players believed in themselves as well. Reaching the semi-finals is in itself a good thing for South African football.
“There was a lot of pressure in the match. Everyone wanted to qualify. This match was unlike the previous ones. We did not show the same performance as we had in previous matches.
“The semi-final match will be different against Nigeria, which has good players like 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 encounter will take place at the Stade de la Paix, Bouake on Wednesday.
By Adeboye Amosu in Abidjan
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COMMENTS
I like the way Super Eagles always do the talking on the pitch.
Wednesday is almost here
God bless Nigeria
The coach said that Nigeria has good players like lookman,lol before now the first name in his mouth would have been osimhen,but osimehn is not firing,though he is doing so many good things for the team but this will be a good lesson for him to always stay humble.i remember when camp opened ,he was almost the last person to report to camp, regardless of the fact that he played his last match on the 22 Dec and had over 10 days free to stay in nigeria.had it been he reported to camp 1st and started working on a few things and doing personal training,he would have been in the rhythm of AFCON.i wish for him to start scoring from the next game so that clubs can confidently sign him,last week I heard a former Arsenal player saying he is not an upgrade to Juan Jesus and another Chelsea pundit saying he doesn’t want him at chelsea.he doesn’t have a good relationship with Napoli at the moment,I’m hoping for him to click so that he leave napoli.his buy out clause is not a joke and if u must be a 100 million pounds striker,you must at least score up to 2/3 goals at AFCON
Don’t mind those pundits, Osimhen is a formidable player. In fact, the Nigerian attack of Moses, Osimhen, and Lookman is one of the best-attacking frontlines in the world. Nigeria’s weakness was always defense and goal-keeping, two areas that the coach has finally addressed. He has replaced the basket goalkeeper and amended the formation so he can field more defenders.
The only area of concern is Zaidu Sanusi, who is used to playing as a left-back in a 442 cannot play in a 352 formation as a left-wing back. He has been misfiring from Nigeria’s very first game of AFCON.
Any coach watching Nigeria’s games would identify him as a weakness. Although Peseiro has shown too much loyalty to his players, this is the semifinal. It is time Zaidu is replaced. Maybe by considering playing Osayi-Samuel on the left.
Last time Hugo Boss was in Uyo when he coached Cameroon he received 4-0. Wednesday is another date.
If the penalty kicks had gone to 10, Williams would still have stopped 9 and that’s because he’s using an unusual technique. He waits to read the player’s body movement and foot direction before deciding where to dive. Unlike many goalkeepers, he isn’t guessing. he is sure before he dives.
Rewatch the kicks, he delays his dives until the player gets close to the ball. So except it’s a fierce shot to a tight angle or centre, he would likely stop it. I hope Nigerain settles the match in 90 minutes regulation time. The South African league appears to have the best goalkeeper coaches in Africa.
Thank you. If we fail to settle that match in 90 minutes, then the fairy tale would have ended. Lesson: bury your chances, do not wait for games to ho into penalties, that SA goalkeeper is just from another planet!
Yes bro, people always argue with me when i said that. It is better to follow the ball as fast as possible than to guess. I can attest to that; although when i was playing soccer i was playing as a striker but one day i decided to keep during penalty kicks and to the surprise of everybody, i stopped 3 kicks by following the ball as fast as possible, my team won and i became a hero, that was in the military 25 years ago. I see it as a mistake when a goalkeeper dive before the ball and the player taking the spot kick, shoots the ball in the middle of the goal post and scores.
Great observation Kel we will come out firing from all cylinder on Wednesday.
Degea failed to do this against Vilareal just diving like a joyful dolphin… Nwabali should learn this trick from Williams wait for the shot before diving during penalty he is big and will do better than William if he can do the same should in case there is a penalty kick
This is a clash between Local PSL all stars vs the Foreign legion of Nigeria Eagles except their own psl goal keeper Nwabali, the prediction is 2-1 Nigeria Wins again to set up a dreaded clash maybe with CIV in the final.
This man will be hoping to take the match to penalty shoot out, Nigeria should be expecting defensive football from south Africa. We need to get one over as fast as possible to disorganize their game plan. From their we can get one more to seal the win
South Africa are the better team. Their goalkeeper is better than Nwabili by far. Only luck can save the Super Eagles.
Okay Mr west abi na East, come back after the match on Wednesday okay, AFCON cup that it’s spirit is ready in Abuja resting, we are winning that cup and that on CAP.
This one talks like SA hasnt been beaten in this competition.
Correct score: Nigeria 2 – 0 South Africa. I just sold my wife’s kidney to stake this.