South Africa’s head coach, Hugo Broos, has expressed delight with the after Bafana Bafana held the Super Eagles to a 1-1 draw in matchday three of the World Cup qualifiers at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Friday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Broos’s side went to the break with a 1-0 lead after a well-taken goal by talismanic midfielder Themba Zwane but the Super Eagles pulled one back immediately through a spectacular Fisayo Dele-Bashiru goal after the restart.
“In the first half, I think we played fantastic football, we had some chances and we could have scored a goal. It was a little bit unlucky from our side that after two minutes in the second half we conceded the goal and from there you know it was going to be difficult,” Broos said.
“We fought from the 46th to the 95th minute and I think the result is correct. For us we are happy with the point.”
With three rounds of matches played, the group is led by Lesotho and Broos said the so-called ‘small’ countries have improved.
“Normally when you see the draw, you know that Nigeria is going to be the opponent to be first in the group. When you come here you hope to have a minimum one point or not to lose the match which was important for us.
“I said before the match that pressure was on Nigeria because they have three successive draws and you know in qualifiers you need to win your home games. Our group is not of top countries but it is very tricky, look at the results after three games and it is unbelievable. This is something that was the biggest change at AFCON where small countries progressed.
“You see with the results of teams who are in the second and third round, it was teams that you normally don’t expect at AFCON. And this is the problem in our group because any team can win against any other team.”
South Africa’s next group game is against last-placed Zimbambwe while Nigeria will face Benin who sit third in Group C.
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