South Africa's Broos eyes first AFCON final in 20 years, undeterred by Nigeria

South Africa coach Hugo Broos exuded confidence ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations semi-final against Nigeria, declaring his team "very happy and motivated" to end a 20-year wait for a final berth.

Ahram Online , Tuesday 6 Feb 2024,

South Africa s head coach Hugo Broos. AFP

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Reaching the last four marks a significant turnaround for Bafana Bafana, who haven't reached the AFCON final since 2000.

“We are very happy and motivated that we play tomorrow 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,” Broos said.

South Africa have won the AFCON once in 1996 on home soil.

While acknowledging Nigeria's quality - they are ranked sixth in the world compared to South Africa's 66th - Broos downplayed concerns about their recent dominance in head-to-head meetings.

“We are playing against a good team tomorrow, number 6 in the ranking, that means a lot for players playing for us. For many, Nigeria are the favourites to win, but it's not always the case in football," he added.

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