Peseiro praise for Bafana as Nigeria advance

NIGERIA coach Jose Peseiro admits their Africa Cup of Nations semifinal with South Africa could have gone either way, but in the end his side deserved to progress to Sunday’s decider as they held their nerve in the penalty shootout.

The teams played to a 1-1 draw in Bouake, after which Nigeria, led by Chippa United goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali, triumphed 4-2 in the shoot-out to set up a meeting with hosts Ivory Coast in the final. South Africa will meet DR Congo for the bronze medal tomorrow.

“The players deserve to be in the final, it’s a very good victory against a good team,” Peseiro said.

“I said it earlier that South Africa have the best of organisation at this tournament because they play together (at Mamelodi Sundowns), and they created more problems for us. It was very difficult to beat them.

“Huge congratulations to (Bafana coach) Hugo Broos, who put this team together. They played well.

“They defended well, they pushed, they pressured, they manage the ball well with quality. They have players with good quality. Like I expected, it was difficult to beat them. For that I say congratulations to my team.”

Peseiro believes the continuity of having seven starters from Sundowns on Wednesday was a big plus for Bafana.

“It’s true this team played with nine players (in their match-day squad) from Sundowns, but I have to give my congratulations to the coach (Broos) and I told him on the pitch. “Because today they deserve to go through, and Nigeria deserve to also. But in penalties our team was stronger.”