2023 AFCON: Stanley Nwabali boasts of penalty heroics against South Africa

By Saheed Afolabi

Nigeria goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali has boasted about his penalty heroics against South Africa in the semifinal of the 2023 Africa Cup Of Nations (AFCON) in Cote D’Ivoire.

Nwabali saves two spot kicks against Bafana Bafana to ease the Super Eagles qualification to the AFCON final.

The Eagles goalkeeper said the national team technical crew were confident in his abilities going into the penalty shootout against South Africa.

He believes most of the Bafana Bafana players aren’t aware of his specialism in penalties but were scared when taking the penalty kicks.

“When we went to penalty shootouts against South Africa, my coaches said Nigeria were going to win because they know me,” Nwabali was quoted by Far Post.

“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.”

Nwabali went on to be named the Player Of the match in the pulsating game against the South Africans.