South Africa are 2023 AFCON bronze medalists following their third-place playoff victory over the Leopards of DR Congo, MySportDab reports.
The Bafana Bafana were tipped to see off the Congolese after narrowly losing the semifinal to Nigeria via penalty shoot-outs but it was not an easy tie.
DR Congo put up a solid and brilliant performance from the start and were on the ascendancy with more touches on the South Africa box as the game kicked off.
The Leopards continued to stay on top of proceedings early in the game but were frequently unnerved by South Africa’s regular dangerous counter attacks.
The first big chance of the game came for the Leopards but was blown away and it happened to be their only chance in the first half of the game.
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At the break, it was still barren between the two sides with DR Congo pulling a more brilliant first-half performance than the South Africans.
South Africa improved their game in the second half and were beginning to mount pressure on the Congolese but it was a largely open game at both ends as DR Congo maintained their attacking threats despite coming under heavy offensives by the Bafana Bafana.
Both sides failed to find the back of the net at the end of regulation time, dragging the game to extra time. In extra time, it was still a goal deadlock on both ends as the two sides failed to find the back of the net.
The match entered penalties and South Africa ran out 6-5 winners over the Congolese to emerge third-place winners of the tournament.
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