Against South Africa in Wednesday’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-final, Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro said he would love to see the team step up their attacks.
Nigeria had concentrated more on defending and relied on counters in their campaign at the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire. The highest they’ve scored was the 2-0 win against Cameroon in the round of 16. The other three games against Angola in the quarter-final, the group A games against Guinea Bissau and Cote d’Ivoire ended in 1-0 wins. Though they created chances against Equatorial Guinea in their first group A game, they could only manage a 1-1 draw.
Against South Africa Peseiro is hopeful that the team will put the heat on the Bafana Bafana to prevent the elongating the encounter.
“Once again we played (against Angola in the quarterfinals) without conceding, and scored a goal, but I would have liked more. The team could have created more opportunities,” Peseiro said.
“We are a quality team, Angola was very good, but we had more luck. I remain satisfied with my players but want us to be more efficient (in attack).”
“We’re missing some key creators like (Kelechi) Iheanacho and (Joe) Aribo, so it’s been hard. But others must now step up.”
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos said the match against the Super Eagles will be a tough one.
“The semi-final will be tough against Nigeria’s great players but we have nothing to lose now,” Broos stated.
“The players will recover and prepare, but staying focused is essential.”
