AFCON Semi-final With Nigeria Will Be Tough - South Africa Legends

Johannesburg, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Feb, 2024) 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 11 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.