Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Ronwen Williams looks up to the heavens at Afcon 2023. Image: X.
Bafana video: Ronwen Williams saves four penalties!
What a night, what a goalkeeper. Bafana Bafana have advanced to the Afcon 2023 semi-finals, thanks to Ronwen Williams’ penalty saves.
Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Ronwen Williams looks up to the heavens at Afcon 2023. Image: X.
Bafana Bafana have a new big hero: Ronwen Williams. The 32-year-old remarkably saved four out of five penalties against Cape Verde in the Afcon 2023 quarter-final game on Saturday night in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast.
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BAFANA BAFANA BEAT CAPE VERDE TO QUALIFY FOR THE AFCON 2023 SEMIFINALS
The game ended goalless after 90 minutes and 30 minutes of extra time, where Williams delivered a staggering save to deny Gilson Tavares a winner in the 88th minute.
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Bafana went on to win the penalty kicks 2-1, a very unusual score in the shootouts right? Well, no goalkeeper in a major tournament has ever saved four out of five penalty before.
Coach Hugo Broos admitted that the tension of the match caused him to age a few more years, but Man of the Match Williams saved the night.
“Let’s say six hours ago I was 71, now I’m 75,” Broos said as quoted by iDiskiTimes.
“It was a stressful game, certainly the penalties. You know what happens when you have to take penalties, it’s a very special situation for the players,” the Bafana mentor added.
“Sometimes you do a little game after training, taking penalties and nearly no player misses a penalty but you see today what happened, not only with us but also the players from Cape Verde. That means, we can be happy, but players want to get a penalty. We were, not lucky because we had a very good keeper today. If you can save four penalties, this is not luck anymore. You can save one, but four, this is not luck.
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“He did not only that, he saved us two minutes before the end with a player that was alone infront of him. Yes, he was of the match. I think we could choose nobody else, because he is really Man of the Match,” the Bafana tactician concluded.
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VIDEO: RONWEN WILLIAMS’ PENALTY SAVES
According to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), no other goalkeeper has ever saved four out of five penalties at an Afcon match.
Take a bow, Williams.
Meanwhile, the Gqeberha-born Mamelodi Sundowns keeper will lead Bafana in the semifinals against Nigeria on Wednesday at 19:00.
You can find more articles from Siseko Gwegwe here.
