Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker says his side made South Africa proud with their run to the semi-finals of the CAF Confederation Cup.
The Cape Winelands club were competing in the competition for the very first time, and overcame Egyptian giants Zamalek in the quarter-finals before going down 1-0 over two legs to Simba SC in the semi-final.
Stellies lost 1-0 on the road and drew 0-0 t home to miss out on the final by just one goal – that was disputed by Barker.
Speaking after his side’s second leg at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, the Stellenbosch questioned the legitimacy of Simba’s goal while also praising his team for their efforts.
He told SABC Sport: “Yeah, look it’s obviously a tough one to take. I haven’t seen the replays [VAR].
“I’ve always wanted VAR to be brought in our own league and unfortunately it’s gone a little bit against us, mainly last week, but you know congratulations to Simba first thing. I wish Fadlu, Darian [Wilken] and all the South African contingent that are with Simba the best for the final.”
Barker added: “We’ve tried everything in our capability to try to get a goal, to try and at least take it to penalties.
“I can’t fault the effort; I can’t fault the commitment. Obviously, the better team created the better chances. We were on the front foot.
“But yeah, just struggled to find a way to get a goal.
“I can’t fault the effort. We’ve played some really big teams on the African continent whether it be Simba, Zamalek, Berkane. I think that we’ve shown that we can hold our own.
“I trust that we’ve made South Africa proud with our efforts to reach this far in our first season ever in the Confed.”