Ahead of the clash with DR Congo for AFCON 2023 bronze medal title

South African defender Siyanda Xulu says he is happy with the team’s performance and their progress in their time at the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023, CAFonline reports.

Bafana Bafana reached the semi-finals, where Nigeria disappointingly knocked them out on Wednesday evening in Bouake.

This was the first semi-final appearance since 2000 by Hugo Broos’ charges, who will now contest the third-place play-off against the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, 10 February, in Abidjan.

Speaking ahead of the clash with the Leopards, Xulu said he was proud of the progress made by the team and the impressive performance shown at the competition.

“We had our own goal as a team. We wanted to go as far as we could. We know very well our quality, especially from the coach, who has always believed in us as a team. To go this far was our objective. Reaching the semi-final is a dream. Yes, we wanted to take it home, but we couldn’t, but we can be proud of the performance,” said Xulu.

The last time the 1996 champions played the third and fourth play-off was in 2000 when they won 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw against Tunisia.