Mental recovery is critical in the fight for third place – Broos

Photo Credit: CAFonline

South African head coach Hugo Broos says the fight for a bronze medal in the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 will be more of a mental battle than anything, CAFonline reports.

South Africa faces the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, 10 February, in Abidjan at 20h00 in a third and fourth-place play-off after both sides were eliminated in the semi-finals on Wednesday.

According to the Belgian tactician who guided South Africa to their first semi-final since 2000, the key to clinching a third place will be how they mentally recover from the heart-breaking semi-final loss.

“We played a perfect game against Nigeria. It was a great performance, and we again showed that we are a great team. When you exit after 120 minutes, it’s always a huge disappointment. When you play so well, the disappointment is so big. The game tomorrow is special. It depends a bit on which team will be mentally recovered because also for DRC, it was difficult to lose like that”.

Bafana Bafana were edged 4-2 by Nigeria after a dramatic 1-1 draw in Bouake, while the Leopards were edged 1-0 after a hard-fought encounter with the hosts, Cote d’Ivoire.

Kick off at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny is at 20h00 GMT.