Soccer
Bafana Bafana hope to secure third place in 2023 Afcon─── 09:30 Sat, 10 Feb 2024
Bafana Bafana’s dream to lift the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) trophy may be shattered, but they still have the opportunity to get the bronze when they take on DR Congo at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium tonight for third place.
The South African team started the tournament with a 2-0 loss to Mali, but went on to crush Namibia 4-0 and draw 0-0 against Tunisia, securing a place in the Round of 16. A surprise 2-0 victory over Morocco secured their quarterfinal place where they beat Cape Verde on penalties. Their semi-final against Nigeria also resulted in a penalty shootout, but this time neither luck nor skill was in their favour.
DR Congo drew all of their group stage encounters, but beat Egypt on penalties in the Round of 16. They beat Guinea convincingly in the quarterfinal but lost to hosts Ivory Coast in the semifinal.
At a pre-match conference, Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos said he was still proud of his players, despite the loss against Nigeria.
“I am very proud, very proud of the players, the way we have performed, I know that everyone knows South Africa now as a good playing team, and that is the most important thing,” he said.
Tonight’s match will kick off at 22:00.
OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger
