South Africa coach Hugo Broos stated his crew’s Africa Cup of Nations marketing campaign should already be thought of a hit after they reached the final 4 on Saturday, however the veteran Belgian insisted “the hunger is big” to go all the way in which to the ultimate. Bafana Bafana beat Cape Verde 2-1 on penalties within the final eight after a goalless 120 minutes in Ivorian capital Yamoussoukro, with goalkeeper and captain Ronwen Williams producing a outstanding 4 saves within the shoot-out. “Let’s say six hours ago I was 71, now I am 75. It was a very stressful game, certainly with penalties,” admitted Broos.

South Africa at the moment are into their first Cup of Nations semi-final since 2000 and can face much-fancied Nigeria on Wednesday.

“Today I saw and felt that my players were really nervous. There was a lot of pressure because everyone wanted to qualify for the semi-finals, and we didn’t play like in our previous matches,” admitted Broos, whose crew had crushed Morocco 2-0 towards the percentages within the final 16.

They will once more be the underdogs towards Victor Osimhen’s Super Eagles in Bouake, leaving Broos to assert his facet “have nothing to lose”.

“It is maybe bizarre for me to say that but for us our AFCON has already been a success. We are in the semi-finals. Nobody thought we would do that when we left South Africa to come here.

“There will likely be much less strain on us, I’m sure of that. That does not imply we do not need to play the ultimate, definitely not.”

Broos has revived the fortunes of South Africa, having taken over following their failure to qualify for the last Cup of Nations two years ago.

While many of Africa’s leading national sides lean heavily on players who belong to leading European clubs, Broos’s squad is almost entirely comprised of stars from the South African league.

His starting line-up against Cape Verde, which was unchanged for a fourth successive game, featured eight players from the country’s dominant club Mamelodi Sundowns.

Raising the standard

They are one of the finest teams on the continent, but there was still some scepticism as to whether South Africa would be good enough to make a big impact in Ivory Coast.

“I feel there have been many individuals in South Africa who did not consider within the crew, however we believed. The gamers believed that it might occur, and it occurred, and I feel it is a superb factor for South African soccer,” said the coach.

“South African gamers are within the image now, so meaning there will likely be extra curiosity for South African soccer.

“I hope that those who saw the games are now convinced that the level of the PSL (Premier Soccer League) has to be higher. We have to work on that.

“I feel it’s the proper second to do this now, however once more being within the semi-final is one thing very particular for South African soccer and let’s hope now that possibly we are able to make a shock once more as a result of now the starvation is huge to play that last subsequent Sunday.”

Broos is now close to repeating his remarkable achievement with Cameroon, who he led to an unexpected AFCON title in Gabon in 2017.

He believes there are similarities between that campaign and his current team’s run.

“I’m not superstitious. But while you see the run we’re having, and also you see the run we had with Cameroon it’s virtually precisely the identical,” he said.

“It is form of the identical path. It was the case seven years in the past with Cameroon. Nobody believed, no person. And we received the AFCON.

“Let’s hope we will do the same thing with South Africa.”

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