Following their defeat on penalties, South Africa has lamented a missed chance to build on their sole continental victory at home in 1996.
Despite being runners-up in 1998 and securing third place in 2000, Bafana Bafana’s semi-final clash with Nigeria marked their first appearance in the last four in 24 years.
“We’ve fought from the start of the tournament,” expressed defender Aubrey Modiba. He continued, “We managed to equalise and take it to extra time, even though towards the end we could have taken our chances that we created.”
“Even though we’re a bit disappointed, penalties are a lottery. It wasn’t meant to be, and you cannot have any regrets.”
Modiba remains optimistic, emphasising the importance of learning from the tournament experience and maintaining qualification for future competitions.
He added, “People outside of South Africa believe in us because they’ve been watching our games, but back home we don’t get the same support, which is something that we are used to now,” he said.
“That’s why we push and we fight because we know they (the South African public) don’t really believe in us.
“But we’ve got ourselves, and people will notice everywhere around the world because they watch the games. I still believe in this team, and I think something good is coming out of this team.”
South Africa will now face DR Congo in the third-place play-off