Super Eagles goalkeeper, Stanley Bobo Nwabali, has made a bold assertion regarding the demeanour of South African players during their recent semi-final AFCON 2023 encounter.
Following a nail-biting clash, which concluded with the Super Eagles securing victory via penalty shootouts, Nwabali shared his observations on the opposing team’s state of mind.
The chippa Unitec goalkeeper, said that South African players, looked scared during their penalty shootout defeat to Nigeria at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Nwabali expressed confidence that Nigeria would prevail if the match went to penalties.
Speaking with FARPost, Nwabali said his coaches’ belief in his penalty-saving abilities.
“When we went to penalty shootouts against South Africa, my coaches said Nigeria were going to win because they know me,” said Nwabali.
“People didn’t know me. Only a few teams in South Africa knew that when you go to penalty shootouts against Stanley, it’s gone.
“You’re finished; just forget about the game. You must give me the man of the match because I will save a lot.
“A lot of Bafana Bafana guys didn’t know me. But maybe they might have seen in the video analysis or asked questions back in South Africa.
“If you look at the eyes of the Bafana Bafana players, they looked scared. If you watched the game and you look at their eyes when taking a penalty against me, they looked scared.
“So, when you’re not confident enough to stand, I know you’re going to fumble in the penalty. I was not surprised by Mokoena’s miss, and I was not surprised by Makgopa’s miss.
“So, these teams like Polokwane, Sekhukhune, Stellenbosch, they know that if you go to penalties with me, it’s finished.
“I’m not praising myself, I always want to keep quiet because I know what I can do.”
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