Bafana Bafana midfielder Dean Furman has weighed in on South Africa's elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations after Stuart Baxter's side suffered a 2-1 defeat to Nigeria on Wednesday.
Goals by Samuel Chukwueze and William Troost-Ekong ensured the Super Eagles' progression to the semi-finals of the African spectacle, where they will face the winner of the clash between Algeria and Ivory Coast.
SuperSport United midfielder Furman, who produced a valiant performance in Bafana's defeat, gave his thoughts on the game afterwards.
Read: Baxter just about decided on his future
"They kind of sat off us in the first half and we didn't move the ball quick enough to hurt them," he said in post-match comments, as per SuperSport.
"Then they get their goal, and again they sat off and waited for us to make mistakes.
"In the second half, we decided to play higher up the pitch, we pressed them higher like we did the other night against Egypt and it worked for us, we came alive, got the goal and it seemed like there was only going to be one winner."
The 1996 AFCON winners levelled the scoreline through Bongani Zungu in the 71st minute, with the VAR team approving the strike that was initially deemed offside.
The game looked to be heading for extra-time, but defender Troost-Ekong netted the winner in the 85th minute after goalkeeper Ronwen Williams misjudged the flight of the ball from a corner.
Furman shared his disappointment at being knocked out of the tournament, but maintained that Bafana can hold their head high following their historic last-16 victory over Mohamed's Salah's Egypt.
"It looked like they (Nigeria) were tired and to get that goal at the end, that one is going to hurt for a while, but we can hold our heads up, we fought out there, we fought for every ball, it could have very easily gone our way," he added.
"I think everyone in this team can be proud of themselves, the way they acquitted themselves, the way they came out here.
"We showed flashes of brilliance, especially in the last game. At times tonight, some of our attacking play was great again, maybe not to the level of the Egypt game.
"We caused them problems without really having that final ball, but the boys can go away with their head held high. Hopefully from this experience Bafana Bafana is ready to mix it with the big teams on this continent."