South Africa coach Hugo Broos hails 'very good player' Lookman, vows to exploit Nigeria's weaknesses

South Africa beat Cape Verde 2-1 on penalties on Saturday night to set up a semifinal clash with Nigeria at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

With neither team scoring in regulation and extra time, Mamelodi Sundowns star and penalty specialist Ronwen Williams was the hero for Bafana Bafana as he became the first goalkeeper to ever save four penalties in a single Africa Cup of Nations shootout.

In a repeat of the 2000 AFCON semifinal, South Africa will face the Super Eagles on Wednesday at the Stade de la Paix, Bouaké.

Looking ahead to the semifinal cracker, South Africa coach Hugo Broos noted that Nigeria have been improving game by game having struggled a bit in a 1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea in their opening game of the tournament. 

The Belgian football tactician identified Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman as the very good players in the Nigeria side who can make a difference. 

"Nigeria is a team who became better and better every game so when I saw them playing yesterday, it's again a very good team with a very good striker," Broos said at the post-match press conference after his side''s win against Cape Verde.

"There are also a few good players like the one who scored the goal, Lookman, very good player, so we have to analyze a little bit more now because we didn't at the time."
 

Broos reiterated that the Super Eagles are a quality side but vowed to exploit their weaknesses. 

"We know now that it will be Nigeria, we are in the semifinal so from tomorrow we start analyzing and we will see how we can use the weaknesses in this team but also be aware for the qualities and there are a lot of qualities in that team. 

"For both teams it's a little bit special because in a few months we play each other for the qualifiers for the World Cup so it can be a test for both of us."

In Nigeria's fourteen games against South Africa, the three-time African champions have won seven, drawn five, and lost on two occasions. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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