Goalkeeper and captain Ronwen Williams emerged as the hero with four crucial saves in the shootout, propelling Bafana Bafana to a 2-1 victory on penalties against Cape Verde. The Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final ended in a goalless draw after 120 minutes in Yamoussoukro, with Williams making a vital stop in normal time.
His exceptional performance included saving penalties from Bebe, Willy Semedo, Laros Duarte, and Patrick Andrade, securing South Africa’s spot in the semi-finals against Nigeria. Despite South Africa missing two penalties, coach Hugo Broos credited Williams as the standout player, highlighting his pivotal saves and overall impact on the match.
The 32-year-old Williams, of Mamelodi Sundowns, refused to accept all the credit for his heroics however, instead giving a nod to the South African backroom team.
“I give credit to the analysts. They prepare me, they cut so many videos. We study the clubs. I study them as well, I try to pick up trends,” he said.
“My phone is full of penalty clips so it is credit to the analysts for doing the work because it is not easy to get footage of some of those players because they play all over the world.”
South Africa go through to their first AFCON semi-final since what can be termed as their glory days, when they won the title as hosts in 1996, were runners-up in 1998 and then finished third in 2000.