The Bafana Bafana of South Africa took on DR Congo on Saturday, February 10, in the Africa Cup of Nations third-place play-off, with some heroics from goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, who saved two vital spot kicks to salvage a victory for his country.
The match was forced to extra time and was later decided on penalties after 90 minutes of action at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny. The two teams gave themselves some fight, as neither was willing to let go of the glory of claiming an AFCON bronze medal.
The penalty shootout saw some incredible heroics from goalkeeper Ronwen Williams once again, as he brought back memories of his impressive performance against Cape Verde in the quarterfinal shootout. Williams managed to save South Africa a medal when all seemed to be slipping away.
DR Congo’s Chancel Mbemba missed the crucial penalty kick which earned the Bafana Bafana bronze.
Ronwen Williams effort to deny Chancel Mbemba and DR Congo forced the shoot-out into sudden death as pressure suddenly mounted on DR Congo, with South Africa building on their momentum with another good save from goalkeeper Ronwen Williams to secure the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations bronze medal for South Africa.
The euphoria is buzzing towards the big final at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan as host nation Côte d’Ivoire takes on the Super Eagles of Nigeria in a thrilling encounter on Sunday, February 11, 2024.
Three-time champions Nigeria has interestingly been tipped as the team to cause an upset in the finals by a systematic analysis made by Opta Supercomputer withstanding the home advantage pressure that will hugely go against them.
The Super Eagles will be hoping to add another trophy to their cabinet and take their tally to four, but two-time champions Côte d’Ivoire will be determined to prevent that, as they will be hoping to climax the tournament on home soil with a third AFCON trophy.
According to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the winning team at the grand finale will be awarded a whopping $7 million, while the second-place team pockets $4 million.
With that staggering amount of money hanging for the winner of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria will be doing everything possible to make their country proud as they head into the finals of the biggest showpiece in African football.
Côte d’Ivoire will be counting heavily on massive home support as they prepare to compete against Nigeria in their quest to transform adversity into a triumphant AFCON campaign.
