Nigeria manager Jose Peseiro has provided his thoughts on his team's penalty shootout win over South Africa in their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations semi-final on Wednesday.
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The Super Eagles advanced to the final of the competition after beating Bafana Bafana 4-2 on penalties in Bouake in the Ivory Coast.
Captain William Troost-Ekong opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 67th minute, a goal that was cancelled out by an injury-time effort from the spot from Teboho Mokoena.
After neither side could find a winner in extra time, the last four encounter went to penalties, where misses from Mokeona and Evidence Makgopa ultimately cost the 1996 African champions as Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali made crucial saves.
Speaking in a post-match press conference, Peserio heaped praise on South Africa's performance throughout the tournament, but believes his team were deserving of their victory.
"South Africa are the most organised team in the tournament, but we were better in the penalty shootout," he said, according to ACLSports.
"My players deserved it. The Nigerian people deserved it, and the Super Eagles deserved the win.
"(Terem) Moffi and Kelechi (Iheanacho) came in with the same mentalities like the others. Our team fought well, and we did well in extra time, and we deserved to win."
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The final of the tournament will be played in Abidjan this coming Sunday at 22:00, while the third-place playoff will take place on 24 hours earlier.
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