Peseiro not thinking about Bafana Bafana's penalty-saving specialist, admits Super Eagles face tough team 

Jose Peseiro has underlined that he's not thinking about South Africa's penalty-saving specialist Ronwen Williams ahead of Wednesday's Africa Cup of Nations semifinal clash between the Super Eagles and Bafana Bafana. 

The Mamelodi Sundowns glovesman etched his name into the history books as the first goalkeeper to ever save four penalties in a single AFCON shootout as South Africa defeated Cape Verde to set up a semifinal meeting with Nigeria.

Peseiro suggested that his game plan will be based on how to nullify the threat posed by South Africa as a team and not a single player. 

When quizzed on the South Africa goalkeeper saving four penalties and if it's something he's thinking about, Peseiro told Hot Sports: "No. I think about the opponent. We observe the opponent, we want to beat them in the 90 minutes, 120 minutes or penalties.

"We have to prepare the team well to be focused and show good mentality. Our players deserve to reach the final but we need to beat South Africa in a hard match."

After his appointment as Super Eagles manager back in 2022, Peseiro has always stated that he wants to win the Africa Cup of Nations and he's now two games away from glory. 

The Portuguese coach has admitted that the Super Eagles will be facing a difficult opponent who have not conceded in their last four games. 

"It's important to win the AFCON, beat South Africa. Everybody knows when I signed the contract I came here to win the AFCON but we have not won yet, we need to beat South Africa, after that play the final. 

"More important now is beating South Africa which is our focus. It will be a tough match against a good team," Peseiro added. 

The Super Eagles have started preparations for the meeting with South Africa, with a recovery session held on Sunday. 

On how he's getting ready for the semifinal showdown, Peseiro said: "We are happy, now we start to work and prepare for the next match. more importantly everybody recover well on and off the pitch, rest well, sleep well and eat well so they can be 100  percent against South Africa."

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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