South Africa will attempt to achieve something they have never done before, which is to beat Nigeria in the Africa Cup of Nations when they two teams clash in the semi-finals at the Stade de la Paix on Wednesday, February 7.
Kick-off is at 7pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)
Bafana Bafana have lost all three previous encounters against the Super Eagles on Africa’s biggest stage, but head coach Hugo Broos insists his players are determined to spring another upset after they eliminated Morocco in the round of 16.
The Belgian tactician wants a much better performance against the West African giants as he felt his team were poor in the penalty shootout win over Cape Verde.
“Our match (against Cape Verde) was not so good. I think we played our worst game of the tournament,” Broos said. “We played better against Mali, against Namibia and Tunisia, and also against Morocco.
“But I have said it – it’s not the way you win, it’s that you win. And tonight we won on penalties and we are very happy.
“Let’s hope now that on Wednesday we can make a surprise because now the hunger is big to play the final on Sunday.”
Nigeria head coach Jose Peseiro has challenged his players to be more creative against Bafana Bafana after claiming they didn’t caused enough problems for the Black Sable Antelopes in the quarter-finals.
“Once again we played without conceding, scored a goal, but I would have liked more. The team could have created more opportunities,” Peseiro said.
“We are a quality team, Angola was very good, but we had more luck. I remain satisfied with my players but want us to be more efficient.
“We’re missing some key creators like [Kelechi] Iheanacho and [Joe] Aribo, so it’s been hard. But others must now step up.”
The Super Eagles have the upper hand in this fixture after winning six of their 11 meetings. South Africa’s only win came during the qualifying campaign for the 2019 edition when they ran out 2-0 victors in Uyo. The last clash between the two teams saw Nigeria triumph 2-1 in the AFCON 2019 quarter-finals.
Victor Osimhen is rated 50-50 to start in Bouake after he was carried off on a stretcher towards the end of the 1-0 win over the Black Sable Antelopes. Thapelo Maseko is ruled out for South Africa with a hamstring injury which forced him off in extra time against the Blue Sharks.
