Bafana Bafana defender Grant Kekana has shared his key takeaways from the 2023 CAF AFCON tournament held in Ivory Coast.
Kekana is one of the players who played a significant role in helping Hugo Broos‘ side finish third in this just-ended prestigious tournament.
The Mamelodi Sundowns centre-back featured in five out of the seven matches played by Bafana at the AFCON competition. He missed two games due to getting a red card against Nigeria in the semi-finals.
To add to that, the 31-year-old footballer responded well to coach Broos’ plans which yielded fruitful results.
GRANT KEKANA ON AFCON POSITIVES AND TAKEAWAYS
“It has been a good experience. This is something you dream of, especially as a child. We grow up being told how 1996 and 1998 [Bafana teams] were and how good the players were,” said Kekana.
“For us to experience such a tournament and actually play in it and to come back from how we started it’s a very good feeling and a very good group of guys that we have here. Also, not only good players but good human beings.
“I just feel so good to be part of it. Obviously, we wanted to go all the way to the finals, but even receiving that bronze medal just shows the type of players we have. You know, we fought against all odds, and coming out third in such a difficult competition is just a good feeling.”
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The former SuperSport United man further stated how the AFCON experience will come in handy when Sundowns participate in the CAF Champions League.
“I think it will also give us a good motivation going into the second half of the season. Obviously, at Sundowns, we know that we have the CAF Champions League coming up. So, it’s going to give us a good motivation to know that we are respected for what we did in this tournament,” he added.
“Hopefully, we will achieve even bigger things from the experience that we got during this tournament.”
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