South Africa coach, Hugo Broos, has revealed his conversation with Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro, after Nigeria’s 2-1 defeat to Ivory Coast in the final of the recently concluded Africa Cup of Nations, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
According to the Bafana Bafana coach, Peseiro admitted that Broos’ boys posed a greater challenge to the Eagles than eventual winners Ivory Coast.
Bafana Bafana impressed and surprised at the AFCON where they took home bronze medals, after beating DR Congo in a penalty shootout on Saturday night.
Tagged the giants’ slayers after eliminating Morocco and Tunisia, the South Africans saw their AFCON aspirations ended by the Eagles in a highly entertaining encounter.
Nigeria lost the final to the host nation to pick up their silver medals.
“Certainly, against Nigeria, they (Bafana Bafana) didn’t know what to do. They were surprised and I saw the coach (Peseiro) on Sunday after the final and he came to me and said, ‘You did it very well against us, you were more a threat than Ivory Coast, it was for us a surprise the way you played,” Broos told Marawa Sports Worldwide.
“So, this is what I want with them and when you can do that because this is a team with great potential and let’s hope that we can succeed every time playing like this,” he added.
With Bafana meeting Nigeria in the qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Belgian has backed his men to go all the way to North America.
“Yes, and maybe not sure as yet, but I believe we have a very big chance to be at the World Cup in 2026, we can make it,” Broos said.
While Nigeria are third in their Group C after drawing their opening two games against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, Bafana Bafana are currently second with three points after recording a win over Benin Republic and losing to Rwanda.
