South Africa’s Bafana Bafana coach, Hugo Broos, has stated that his side’s defeat to the Super Eagles of Nigeria at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) would be difficult to accept.
The Bafana Bafana side lost to their opponents 2-4 on penalty kicks, missing an opportunity to play in the finals with host Ivory Coast.
Speaking in an interview on Thursday, Broos said his side were the better team during the Wednesday showdown.
“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,” the Bafana Bafana coach said.
He maintained that his team had more opportunities and that Nigeria would not have advanced to the final if they had scored.
The Belgian however praised his team for an excellent tournament.
“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.
The Bafana Bafana side will now battle DR Congo team, who lost 1-0 to Ivory Coast, for the third place on Saturday.