He will remember this match all his life. At 32, Ronwen Williams is closer to the end than the beginning of his career and nothing says he will ever experience such emotions again. The Bafana Bafana goalkeeper turned into a hero on Saturday evening, allowing South Africa to win against Cape Verde, in the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations, at the end of a match rich in suspense and a mind-blowing penalty shootout (0-0, 2-1 on the tabs).
Opposing a team which had amazed everyone with its ultra-offensive play, the Bafana Bafana goalkeeper sent his nation into the last four of the competition for the first time in 24 years by stopping… four penalties out of five! A historic performance since no goalkeeper had ever achieved something similar in an African Cup of Nations.
And while his teammates, Zakhele Lepasa and Aubrey Modiba, moved into second and third positions, missed the target, the man of the evening made a series of high-class parades, jumping three times in a row on the right then once left to disgust the Cape Verdeans. Better yet, he could even have scored a success since he touched Bryan Teixeira’s shot with his fingertips, starting as the fourth shooter! Before that, he brought the competition to a halt by diverting onto the crossbar the cannonball attempted by Gilson “Benchimol” Tavares which was going to lodge itself in the top corner in added time (90 + 2nd).
Zero goals conceded since the first CAN match
Asked after the match about his incredible performance with his man of the match trophy in his hands, Ronwen Williams, unknown in Europe having spent his entire career in his country (335 matches), could not contain his emotions: “ I am filled with joy, happiness. (…) I don’t think I’ll have a better night in my career unless we go on and win the Cup. I’m so happy. »
He also did not hesitate to pay tribute to his teammates and video analysts: “It’s not just me, it’s the team. These are the analysts. We studied the penalties, they sent me so many… Well done to them too. » The experienced goalkeeper of the South African club Mamelodi Sundowns, champion last year, has not conceded a single goal since the inaugural defeat of Bafana Bafana against Mali (2-0). What should worry their future opponent in the semi-finals, Nigeria and their star Victor Osimhen? The question may arise. In any case, Ronwen Williams will want to continue on her merry way to try to win a second coronation in the history of South Africa, 28 years after that of 1996.
