After Bafana Bafana edged DR Congo 6-5 on penalties to clinch bronze in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) at Stade Felix Houphouet-Boigny on Saturday, coach Hugo Broos lauded his fatigued players for their achievement.

Bafana ended their impressive tournament with a victory over Congo to finish third and walk away with a bronze medal for the first time in 24 years since they beat Tunisia in the third-place playoff match in 2000.

Captain Ronwen Williams saved two penalties to deny Chancel Mbemba and Meschack Lina and help Bafana to a win.

Broos was satisfied with the achievement and said his players had to dig deep after they showed some fatigue during the match.

“After our last game against Nigeria, I was so proud to be a coach of that team. And I think everybody saw today why I am so proud,” Broos told the media during the post-match press conference.

“This was a tired team today. We played two 120 minutes two times with penalties. We played against an opponent who had one day more rest than we had.

“You saw today [Saturday] that we were not fresh and when you see the mentality in that group, they fight for it until the last second of the game. Some players nearly fell from the fatigue, but still, they continued.

“I think that makes today’s win and deserve it. When you see the game, Congo were better than us. They had more chances than us.

“But if you fight for it like my players did today, I think they deserve it and again, I’m very proud of them.

“The Belgian was also satisfied after he gave several players an opportunity in the game and added that they have been supporting the others while not playing.

Players like Nkosinathi Sibisi, Terrence Mashego, Jayden Adams and Oswin Appolis were given opportunities.

“First of all, we had some problems with injured players. I was very happy that I could recuperate some of them today for the game like Teboho Mokoena and that shows again what the tournament hurt us from the players certainly, those two 120 matches,” he said.

“The boys did very well again. They showed mentality. They tried to do what I asked, but I understand that for them it was difficult.

“But it showed that if we had problems like we did today with injuries and the player who was suspended [Grant Kekana], it showed that we can count on them from the bench.

“After the game against Morocco, I said to them, for me, I was very satisfied and happy to see the players what they did on the pitch, but I was even happy with what they did on the bench.

“They supported the guys on the pitch. They were really good supporters in every situation in the game. Then you know that you have 23 guys who only want one thing which is winning and it’s a bit easier when you have problems like today with injuries to put some of the guys that showed 100 percent that they will play for the team.”