South Africa 0
Nigeria 0
15 November 2019 – South Africa progressed to this year’s AFCON semi-finals after holding Nigeria to a 0-0 draw in a highly contested final Group B tie South Africa had all the intentions to win at the Al Salam Stadium in Cairo, Egypt.
South Africa will now face hosts Egypt after finishing second of their group with five points, just a point behind group winners, Ivory Coast.
The match between South Africa and Egypt will take place at Cairo Stadium on 19 November at 20h00.
South Africa will go into that match highly motivated for a win, given the fact that such a result will guarantee them a place into the top three national under-23 teams that are to represent Africa in next year’s Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.
In this tie, coach David Notoane’s charges applied themselves really well, managing a Nigeria side which pushed really hard in search of an early goal.
Captain Tercious Malepe and his defensive line maintained their discipline in the rearguard throughout the match, allowing no room for era for their opponents to exploit.
Up in the final third, eventual man of the match winner Luther Singh, Lyle Foster, Kamohelo Mahlatsi and second half substitute Keletso Makgalwa; did everything in their might to pull one for South Africa to complement a good defensive work their teammates were doing in the rearguard. However, goal did not come.
In the second period of the game, Makgalwa came in as a forced substitution for the injured Foster who got a knock in the 49th minute. Foster’s Injury was a result of a hard-tackling game Nigeria decided to bring in the second half to make up for the lack of penetrating power they now did not possess up in the final third.
Both Nigeria’s Kelechi Nwakali and Azubuike Okechukwu, got yellow carded in a space of five minutes in the last 15 minutes of the match.
The combination of Mahlatsi, Singh and Makgalwa proved very treating for the opposition’s defensive third. However, three of these players lacked the needed luck to convert their chances.