We were outmuscled

South Africa coach Gordon Igesund says his men were outmuscled by Nigeria in their final outing at the African Nations Championship on Sunday night.

The Super Eagles knocked Bafana Bafana out of the tournament via a brace from Man of the Match Ejike Uzoenyi, and strike from Ifeanyi Ede, with Bernard Parker pulling one back for the hosts at Cape Town Stadium.

Stephen Keshi's charges advanced to the quarter-finals of the event alongside Group A winners Mali, who came from a goal down to beat Mozambique 2-1 at Athlone Stadium.

"I'm very disappointed not to get something out of this," Igesund said. "But well done to Nigeria, they were more physical than us and won the second ball and got the goals, so I have to give them credit.
"They outmuscled us, they were physically much stronger than us. It's not an excuse, it's just how it is.

"We tried to create situations, once you're 2-0 down, you're gonna take chances and throw bodies forward.

"I did that, I had five up front attacking in the last 15 minutes. If we had got a goal a little earlier, something could have happened, but it wasn't to be, so well done to them."

Keshi, meanwhile, was buoyed by his side's efforts, having bounced back from an opening day loss to Mali with back-to-back victories.

"The boys fought like wounded lions to stay in this competition," Keshi said.

"I'm very grateful to them and I salute them, they did wonderfully well.

"In the first game they had a little bit of stage fright. But I knew their ability, I know what they can do, so I knew they would qualify.

"We'll just take it game by game," he added of the African champions' prospects going forward.