Johannesburg - South African captain Dean Furman admits he is disappointed that Bafana Bafana played to a 2-2 draw against Nigeria in their final Group A, African Cup of Nations qualifier on Wednesday.
As it happened: Nigeria v Bafana
According to the soccerladuma website, a brace from Tokelo Rantie gave Bafana the lead before a brace from Sone Aluko saw the game end in a stalemate.
The draw sees South Africa finish top of their qualifying group with 12 points, followed by Congo on ten points and Nigeria, the 2013 AFCON champions, in third on eight points.
“We have shown how far we have come and we are very disappointed about not winning the game,” said Furman.
“We are looking forward to the AFCON now, but we have a lot of work to do.
“We have a good group and we have got some good players fighting for positions.
“We are looking good.”
Furman further acknowledged that their success as a team is due to coach Shakes Mashaba.
“He (Shakes Mashaba) has been excellent for us, he has installed a pride in the team and you saw that on the pitch today, the boys are willing to put their head on the line for their country – we are fighting for our shirt, we want to win every ball, we want score every goal and as a unit we have a very focused group and that is all down to the coach,” concluded Furman.