Broos ‘very proud’ despite Bafana heartbreak in AFCON semifinal

Hugo Broos rued missed opportunities in Bafana Bafana’s penalty shootout defeat to Nigeria in the Africa Nations Cup semifinals on Wednesday at the Stade la Paix de Bouake.

The Bafana head coach, however, also declared himself as “very proud” of his side after they more than matched up to the Super Eagles on a thrilling evening in the Ivory Coast.

“Football can be hard,” said Broos after the match.

“When you see the performance of the team today and then you have penalties and you lose the game and are not in the final, it is hard to accept.

“We played a very good game, we were the best team in the first half, we had all the chances, Nigeria didn’t have one chance,”

‘We played … a very good AFCON’

“In the second half they had a few chances and they scored and we changed something tactically so we could come back (to 1-1). Then two minutes before the end (of normal time) … we had three chances to score (Khuliso Mudau missed a gilt-edged opportunity in stoppage time). This can happen in football, it is a big disappointment, but we feel we played a very good game, and a very good AFCON.

“I am very proud, very proud of the players, the way we have performed, not only today. We played a bad game against Cape Verde and won on penalties (in the quarterfinals) and today we played a very good game and lost on penalties. That is also football, but again … we have to think about the way we played at this AFCON. I know everyone knows South Africa now as a good team.”