His performance has gone down in the annals of soccer. Ronwen Williams, South Africa's goalkeeper, saved four of Cape Verde's five penalties to send Bafana Bafana into the semi-finals of the AFCON 2023. At 32, the Port Elizabeth native is making a name for himself.
To win the 2022 World Cup, Argentina had to rely on the phenomenal Lionel Messi but also a goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, on fire and unstoppable in penalty shoot-outs. South Africa has yet to win the AFCON 2023. They came within two steps of it by qualifying for the semi-finals on Saturday, February 3. Their qualification was largely due to an outstanding performance by Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.
"My phone is full of penalty images"
The 32-year-old has made world soccer history. He became the first goalkeeper to save 4 out of 5 penalties in a major international tournament. A flight of fancy, a steady hand and incredible composure were the hallmarks of his performance.
Despite this outstanding achievement, Williams refuses to take the spotlight alone. "I give credit to the analysts.They prepare me, they shoot so many videos.We study the clubs. I study them too, I try to catch the trends," confides the Mamelodi Sundowns keeper, who trained at Supersport United where he played from 2011 to 2022. "My phone is full of penalty images, so it's all to the analysts' credit that they've done their job because it's not easy to get images of some of these players because they play all over the world," he adds.
4 clean-sheets at the AFCON, 20 in 26 games with Sundowns
Since the 2-0 defeat to Mali in Bafana Bafana's opening game, Ronwen Williams has kept South Africa's goal intact.He has now made it 4 clean-sheets in a row in Côte d'Ivoire, including this surreal penalty shoot-out."We were unlucky because we had a very good goalkeeper today. If you can stop four penalties, it's no longer luck. Not only did he do that, he also saved us two minutes before the end with a player who was alone in front of him, so yes, he was the man of the match. I don't think we could have chosen anyone else," praises his coach Hugo Broos.
While the general public may have just discovered this immense goalkeeper, fans of African soccer know him well. Winner of the inaugural African Club Super League with Sundowns, he has played 26 games in all competitions for his club this season, with 20 clean sheets and just one goal conceded.
