South Africa coach Hugo Broos has said Bafana Bafana do not fear ‘favourite’ Super Eagles of Nigeria ahead of their blockbuster Africa Cup of Nations semi-final clash at Stade de la Paix in Bouaké.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference at Stade de la Paix in Bouaké, Ivory Coast on Tuesday, Broos noted that Bafana have already met fearsome opposition in the AFCON, so have no reason for fear.“We don’t fear them. but we know that there are good players [in their team].
So we will try to do something that they won’t be so dangerous.
And [we also know] that their defence is also very good.
But again, those were things that were also said about Morocco and we won,” Broos said.
Broos knows Bafana’s hunger to reach a first final in 26 years — since 1998 and in their first semi-final in 24 years will be a huge motivating factor against Nigeria this evening.
“We are very happy and motivated that tomorrow we play the semi-finals of AFCON,” the coach said.
He added: “For many people it was unexpected but we did it and that means South Africa became a good team.
“It’s also more than 20 years ago that South Africa played a semi-final and even more for a final, so that means we have got a lot of motivation.
“We are playing against a very good team that is No.6 in the African rankings and that has a lot of players based abroad. It’s a similar situation as against Morocco, playing against players who play in big teams in Europe.
“So for many people Nigeria would be the favourites, but as you know in football it’s not always the favourite who wins.”
