POLL | Are you proud of Bafana Bafana?
Image: Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
Bafana Bafana progressed further in the Africa Cup of Nations than most expected, filling the nation with pride.
South Africa reached the semifinals in the tournament. But their dreams of lifting the trophy were shattered on Wednesday night when they lost 4-2 to Nigeria in a penalty shoot-out.
Going into the tournament, many were not hopeful Bafana Bafana would get very far because of their unimpressive performances in previous matches. But many South Africans rallied behind the team after victories against Morocco, Cape Verde and Egypt.
The huge achievement by Bafana is one for the books as the national team is ranked 66th in the world and 12th in Africa.
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos was beaming with pride after the match saying he was proud of his players despite their defeat.
This was the first time since 2000 South Africa had reached the Afcon semifinals.
Broos says Bafana Bafana defeated Cape Verde playing bad football and lost to Nigeria playing good football.
“I’m proud of my players, it’s a defeat — we beat Cape Verde playing bad, we lost to Nigeria playing good. That’s football.”