Neil Tovey and
Mark Williams, key figures when South Africa won their lone Africa Cup of
Nations title, believe defeating 2024 semi-finals opponents Nigeria will be
"tough".
Bafana Bafana (The
Boys) and the Super Eagles meet in the central Ivory Coast
city of Bouake on Wednesday with a place in the February 11th final on the
line. Nigeria are favourites for several reasons,
including a perfect past record against South Africa in the competition with
three victories.
The west
Africans won a 2000 semi-final in Nigeria 2-0, a
2004 group match in Tunisia 4-0 and a 2019 quarter-final in Egypt 2-1 through a
late goal from current captain William Troost-Ekong. But South Africa,
whose starting line-up includes nine locals, one player based in Egypt and
another with a Portuguese second division club, are not without hope,
insist Tovey and Williams.
Central
defender Tovey captained the 1996 title-winning team and
forward Williams came off the bench to score twice within two minutes and sink
Tunisia 2-0 in the final in Johannesburg. Victory for Bafana came one
year after the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup and South Africans
basked in the sporting successes two years after the collapse of apartheid.
"It is
going to be very tough against Nigeria - a final before the
final," Tovey told AFP in a telephone interview from the South African
port city of Durban. "We have suffered many defeats against them,
starting with a four-goal mauling in a 1994 World Cup qualifier. More recently,
however, the tide has begun to turn.
Riddled with
upsets
"What we
dare not do in Bouake is retreat into a defensive shell. That would be playing
into the hands of the Nigerians. South
Africa must approach the match in a similar manner to the game
against Morocco - defend in depth when necessary but also apply
pressure."
In a tournament
riddled with upsets, one of the biggest was South Africa winning 2-0
against 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco in a last-16 encounter.
Tovey says he is impressed with South Africa, who have reached the Cup of
Nations semi-finals for the first time since the loss to co-hosts Nigeria 24
years ago.
"They are
not trying to be clever - they are well organised and perform the
basics well. Every player understands his role. Take the crucial final
group match against Tunisia, which could have eliminated Bafana had they lost.
It ended 0-0, but I was impressed with our game management."
Johannesburg-based
Williams told 'AFP' he was struck by the team spirit of South Africa,
who have not conceded in four matches since losing their opener 2-0 to Mali.
"Having eight Mamelodi Sundowns players in the starting lineup helps a
lot. You can see the players know each other very well.
"When you
have a mix of local and foreign-based players there can be initial
misunderstandings. Also, (Egypt-based) Percy Tau is a former Sundowns
star. Make no mistake, it is not going to be easy against Nigeria. They
have always had extremely skilful players and the likes of (Victor) Osimhen and
(Ademola) Lookman are continuing the tradition.
"But our
boys, although not as well known, are also skilful. Mentality is key -
we have to walk on to the pitch believing we are going to win." Both Tovey
and Williams say the Ivory Coast will overcome the Democratic Republic
of Congo in the later semi-final on Wednesday in Abidjan.
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