Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams will lead the country to the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast and believes they can match the last eight showing of their 2019 outfit.
Williams was part of the South Africa team that had reached the quarter-finals in Egypt where they had succumbed to Nigeria. Bafana had first stunned the hosts, the Pharaohs in the last 16.
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South Africa had then missed out on the last AFCON in Cameroon two years ago when they failed to qualify. This time with coach Hugo Broos getting the team through, they will open their campaign against Mali on January 16.
“Hopefully, we can go a step further than the previous one. We went out in the last eight so it’s possible we need to dream high as a country and need to be realistic as well,” Williams told SAFA media.
The majority of the selected group of players for the tournament campaigned in the qualifying stages and this has excited Williams, who believes they have stood tall over the past few years.
“We haven’t been part of the tournament for a very long time. But I‘m very happy to be part of this wonderful group we have now. We have done extremely good work over the last two years or so."
The appointment of Hugo Broos in 2021, saw Williams installed as captain and the Mamelodi Sundowns shot-stopper has been a mainstay ever since with 34 caps to date. Having gained valuable insight at their last AFCON, the 31-year-old hopes that will rub off on the newcomers in the team that will be taking part in the tournament for the first time.
“We have learnt valuable lessons over the last few years. It’s just for myself or the players that were there for the previous AFCON to just share our experiences because it does get tough having to play every three to four days. It’s not easy.
“It’s tough playing high quality games of consequence and mentally it can drain one. So, there is myself and other senior players who will share our experiences,” Williams said.
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