Hugo Broos: ‘For many, Nigeria are the favorite to win but it’s not always the case in football’
South Africa coach confident his side will play in the AFCON final 26 years after they last did
Bafana Bafana of South Africa head coach, Hugo Broos says he and his team are determined to play in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations 26 long years after they last did, losing 2-0 to Egypt. South Africa will face Nigeria on Wednesday in Bouake in one of the two semifinal matches of the 34th AFCON and Broos says his side are motivated to play against the highly rated Super Eagles.
‘We are very happy and motivated that we play on Wednesday in the semi-finals of the AFCON, for many people, it was unexpected but we did it and ensure South Africa become a good team and also it’s more than 20 years ago that South Africa played in the semi-finals and even more than that we played in the finals, so what that means is that we have a lot of motivation,” he said.
The Belgian tactician admitted to Nigeria’s quality but still maintained his confidence in his squad for the crucial game.
“We are playing against a good team tomorrow (today), number 6 in the ranking, that means a lot for players playing for us.
Nigeria have had upper hand on South Africa in recent meetings but it’s not a worrying situation for Hugo Broos who led Cameroon to win the AFCON title in 2017.
‘For many, Nigeria are the favorite to win but it’s not always the case in football, we are confident and motivated to try and ensure it doesn’t happen and South Africa will play in the final for the first time in 20 years,’ he concluded.
