The South Africa coach, Hugo Broos, during his post-match interview, showered encomiums on his boys who had a strenuous flight to Nigeria a few hours before the game and were still able to hold Nigeria to a full-time draw.
Nigeria was held to a disappointing 1-1 draw at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, last night by the resilient Bafana Bafana. Zwane handed the visitors an early lead after scoring in the 29th minute of the game. Just a minute into the second half, Nigeria made a swift approach, leveling up through Dele Bashiru, who scored his first goal in his first cap and unfortunately was stretchered out of the game with a possible injury. The Watford on-loan player was replaced in the 61st minute by Antwerp midfielder Al Hassan Yusuf.
“First of all, I think that the result is correct. A draw. We had our chances, Nigeria had their chances,” he told journalists in Nigeria, as per SAFA.
“But I have to congratulate my players. As you know, or you don’t know, we had a terrible travel to Nigeria on Wednesday. We were only in bed at two o’clock on Thursday morning. So we were 20 hours on the way.
“And when you see the mentality in the team today, then I can only be proud of my players. It was a tough game against a good team.
“But in the first half, I think we played fantastic football; we had some chances, we could have scored the 2-0. And maybe then the game was over. And it was a little bit unlucky from our side that two minutes into the second half, we conceded the goal. And then you know that it will be difficult.”
South Africa, with four points in three games, is in the fourth position, while Nigeria, who is yet to secure a victory, along with Zimbabwe in Group C of the CAF FIFA World Cup qualifiers, is one place above the bottom of the group. Nigeria is a point above Zimbabwe, who sits at the bottom of the group, behind Lesotho, Rwanda, Benin, and South Africa.
Nigeria will now focus on the Benin Republic clash on May 10, 2024, at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on match day four of Group C of the CAF World Cup qualifiers.
