South Africa’s head coach, Hugo Broos, feels his side played better against Nigeria in Wednesday’s semi-finals encounter which they lost 2-4 on penalty kicks.

The Bafana Bafana came back from a goal down to take the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) game to extra time.

Reacting to their defeat in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday, Broos explained that his side played better and deserved to win the game.

“Football can be hard sometimes, when you look at the performance of my team today (Wednesday), and then there were the penalty kicks. Then you lose the penalty shootout and you are not in the finals.

“It’s hard to accept that, because we played a very good game today. I think we were the best team in the first half, we got the best chances, Nigeria didn’t have any chance.

“In the second half, they had few chances which resulted in a goal and we changed something tactically, and we came back,” he said.

He insisted that his team created more chances, adding that if they had scored, they would have been in the final and not Nigeria.

The Belgian however hailed his team for what has been a great tournament for them.

“It’s a big disappointment for everyone, and we believe we played a very good game, not just today but throughout the tournament.

“I’m proud of my players. The disappointment is in not being in the final, but the pride is in having performed well,” he said.

South Africa will now face DR Congo in the third-place playoff on Saturday.