'They were afraid' - Bafana Bafana coach reveals what he saw Peseiro doing many times in AFCON semifinal 

Nigeria advanced to another Africa Cup of Nations final at the expense of South Africa on Wednesday, beating Bafana Bafana on penalties to set up a meeting with hosts Ivory Coast in the showpiece. 

Supersub Kelechi Iheanacho was the match-winner for Nigeria, netting the decisive penalty in a 4-2 win to put the Super Eagles through to the final. 

In truth, South Africa boss Hugo Broos totally outcoached manager Jose Peseiro as the underdogs matched the Super Eagles man for man and tactics for tactics. 

Broos completely nullified the threat posed by tricky wingers Ademola Lookman and Moses Simon by tinkering with his formation and playing with three central defenders, which confused the Super Eagles in the first half. 

To buttress his point that South Africa dominated proceedings, especially in the first half, Broos rightly pointed out that he noticed that Peseiro was very nervous on the sidelines during the game as he kept telling his players to be on the defensive. 

"When you see the dominance we had in the first half not only with defending but also in attack, also the way we build-up, the way we played," Broos said at the post-mach press conference. 

"I saw the coach of Nigeria (Jose Peseiro) gesturing with his hands for his players to go back because they were afraid. They couldn't get back the ball.

"We played very good so that means that the tactical choice was good. After the 1-0 we changed because we had to take risks and we could score that goal.

"Everything was good except two minutes to the end of 90 minutes we had three big chances so we could have killed Nigeria there. We didn't do it, that's a pity."

Nigeria will be aiming for their fourth AFCON title on Sunday when they face the Elephants at Stade Alassane Ouattara.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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