AFCON 2023: Bafana Lucky Against Cape Verde, Nigeria Will Punish Us – Ex -SA U23 Star

As Bafana Bafana gets ready to play Nigeria, former South Africa under-23 standout Junior Khanye feels that the team’s 2023 Afcon campaign is “over.”

Cape Verde was defeated on Saturday in the Afcon quarterfinals by Bafana Bafana, who had to win by penalty shootout.

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Following a 0-0 stalemate in extra time, they prevailed 2-1 in the penalty shootout, with captain Ronwen Williams emerging victorious after saving four attempts.

Bafana’s next matchup comes with Nigeria in the semifinals, but based on their performance against Cape Verde, Khanye believes Hugo Broos’ team will lose.

“We have to be realistic, we were not at our best,” Khanye told iDiski TV.

“We didn’t play well. We could have lost that game. But, luckily, we were very lucky. And listen, I’m saying we were very lucky, but we also need to give to Ronwen Williams [some credit].

“He was the star of the show and saved those penalties very well, we have to give credit to him for that. But, when it comes to playing, we were terrible. We were defending too much,” he added.

“I think Saturday’s game was our worst at the tournament when I look at the other matches. I don’t think that we were at our best, any team can beat us. Look at the chances that Cape Verde created, it’s all luck.

“Any of those chances could have easily gone in. But again, we have to say thank you for our defence. They did a very important job despite Cape Verde creating chances. It’s over for us. As I said, we are lucky to be where we are at the moment,” continued the ex-Kaizer Chiefs star.

“Nigeria is going to beat us, and that’s when we will get a wake-up call. I’m not saying this because I’m being negative, but it’s just me stating facts.

“I love Bafana Bafana, and I want to see them doing well. But, this is our last game, those guys [Nigeria] are going to punish us.”

Hugo Broos, the coach of Bafana, expressed the same comments as Khanye.

The Belgian acknowledged that, despite making it to the semi-finals, their performance was the weakest of the competition.

The South African coach now has a lot of work ahead of him to address the team’s flaws and revive their prospects of defeating Nigeria.