Reaching the AFCON 2023 finals proved to be a bridge too far for the wasteful Bafana Bafana team, having reached the semifinals via a penalty shootout, Bafana Bafana failed to produce the same magic to reach the finals just as the proverb in the form of a parallel phrase, derived from the Gospel of Matthew says "Live by the sword, die by the sword."

The match lived up to the expectations and everything the fans expected to see was there, attacking football, good defending, yellow cards, a red card and even the unprecedented change of the scoreboard, from 2-0 to 1-1, the only thing that was missing was goals.

A high tactical match like this one usually lacks goals because both teams cancel each other out.

This was not surprising at all because both teams came to this match with 4 consecutive clean sheets hence the only 2 goals in open play came from the penalty spots from each side.

The tactical change of playing 5 at the back by the South African technical team proved to be a surprise element for Nigeria as they were unable to break down that solid defence.

Playing Aubrey Modiba and Khuliso Mudau as wingbacks, worked well defensively however, in attack they did not stay wide enough most of the time to stretch The Super Eagles' back 5, which would have created half spaces for the likes of Themba Zwane and Percy Tau to exploit.

They were at times occupying central areas too early, which allowed the opposition's defence to stay compact thus giving them an advantage.

Bafana Bafana were the architects of their own demise, they created enough chances to win the match but their front line was very wasteful in front of goals.

Very little separated Bafana Bafana and Nigeria hence the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Broos and his technical team can be very proud of the team's perfomance in this tournament, their team which is composed mostly of PSL players went toe to toe with the star-studded Super Eagles team, which boasts a number of star players who ply their trade in Europe and other top leagues in the world, including the 2023 African Player of the year, Victor Osimhen, the managed to push them all the way to the lottery of a penalty shootout.

"If you win, you are a genius; if you lose, you have lots of problems but that's the nature of this job" - Pep Guardiola.

There's still a chance for Bafana Bafana to salvage some pride and finish 3rd in the tournament when they face the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday the 10th of February 2024.

I just hope Broos doesn't bow down to critics who have not themselves written any known great masterpieces.