Bafana Bafana’s fairy-tale run to the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations ended abruptly after Nigeria’s Super Eagles secured their place in the final with a 4-2 penalty shoot-out win on Wednesday.
The scores were locked at 1-1 after extra time failed to produce a winner at the Stade Bouaké in the Ivory Coast.
Nigerian goalkeeper Stanley “Bobo” Nwabali of South African club Chippa United was the hero of the Super Eagles with two saves in the penalty shoot-out.
He overshadowed his South African counterpart Ronwen Williams, who made Afcon history a few days ago with four saves in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-final against Cape Verde.
The South Africans produced a dominant first half and they were rendered scoreless by the time the half-time break dawned. It was somewhat surprising that Bafana enjoyed the lion’s share of possession given their line-up, which on paper at least did not appear as strong as Nigeria.
South Africa enjoyed a plethora of scoring opportunities and Percy Tau, playing in his side’s four-man midfield, should have scored at least two first-half goals. Evidence Makgopa, Bafana’s lone striker, also had scoring opportunities.
After neither side made changes at the start of the second half, Nigeria took the second half by storm, and it was no surprise that they took what turned out to be a potentially match-winning lead in the 67th minute, thanks to a penalty by their captain William Troost-Ekong.
Referee Amin Omar had blown up South Africa’s central defender Mothobi Mvala, who upended Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen with a harsh tackle on the edge of the penalty area. Troost-Ekong converted from the penalty spot.
Referee Omar had turned to the VAR monitor to check a foul on Tau, and after realising that the South African had been fouled, he awarded a penalty in the final minute of regulation time.
Teboho Mokoena, the mercurial midfielder, made no mistake, and the teams were level-pegging at 1-1.
Bafana Bafana’s Cinderella run through the tournament, which has been hailed across Mzansi, was ended by Nigeria’s 4-2 win in the penalty shoot-out, but the team will remain in Ivory Coast to play in the third-place play-off on Saturday.
Cape Times