AFCON 2023 Day 20 Reviews: Wasteful Leopards gift Bafana Bafana first AFCON medal since 2000

(Made in Africa Sport) – It was indeed a long wait for the Bafana Bafana, as they’ve had to wait almost 25 years for an AFCON medal. The South Africans will have their goalie, Ronwen Williams, to thank for their third-place success over DR Congo in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023, as they came out on top after the penalty shootout ended 6 – 5. 

The match in regular time was a goalless draw, and the Leopards were horribly wasteful in front of goal, missing chance after chance to score in the South African box. Silas Mvumpa was the first culprit, as he couldn’t quite sort out his feet before Williams rushed forward to claim the ball in the eighth minute. The Bafana Bafana attack was lackluster at the other end, as none of their chances were troubling enough. 

Clinical finishing was still lacking in the Congolese attack even after the halftime break, with Simon Banza missing out on a glorious chance to put them ahead in the 49th minute. The best chance in the match came for the Leopards in the 65th minute, as keeper Williams made an error with his save and Mechak Elia looked to connect with Mvumpa for a goal, but the winger sent his effort wide of the left-hand post to spare Williams his blushes. 

Yoane Wissa and Fiston Mayele also got their chances late in the game, but nothing came out of the progressive attack that DR Congo employed. The third place match went straight to penalties, where Teboho Mokoena missed the first spot-kick for the Bafana Bafana, setting DR Congo up for a likely win. However, Chancel Mbemba and Mechak Elia saw their penalties saved by Ronwen Williams as the goalie pulled off another set of heroics to secure a bronze finish for South Africa.

The entertaining AFCON 2023 will be rounding up tonight, as West African duo Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire sweat it out at the Alassane Ouattara stadium by 9 p.m. It has been quite the run for both teams, as the Super Eagles have maintained a consistent form throughout the competition, while the Ivorian Elephants survived a poor group stage showing to upstage in-form contenders in the knockouts. 

Cote d’Ivoire will be looking to win a third AFCON trophy, while the Nigerians are hoping for a fourth. Will home advantage be sufficient for the Ivorians to become champions of Africa, or will the Super Eagles add them to the growing conquest list?

There’s only one way to find out!

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗘. 😮‍💨

🇳🇬 Nigeria 🆚 Côte d’Ivoire 🇨🇮

We’re finally at the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 final stop! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/dk3AtUoXh2

— CAF (@CAF_Online) February 7, 2024