Bafana captain’s family positive ahead of first game

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The family of captain Ronwen Williams is adamant that Bafana Bafana will get through to the group stages in this year’s edition of AFCON in Ivory Coast.

Bafana Bafana will kick off their opening game of the tournament against Mali on Tuesday night. It’s unclear whether the 31 year- old Gqeberha born goalkeeper will start the game, after missing the Bafana Bafana warm up game against Lesotho, due a knee niggle.

Williams found his passion for soccer when he was three years old. He trained with the Shatterprufe Rovers FC ladies team situated in the Northern Areas of Gqeberha. He also played for Rovers senior men’s team at an early age during the late 90s. Since then, he never looked back.

His family says soccer is the only thing he wanted to be part of and it’s paying off. The Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper has been a beacon of hope for the younger generation of soccer players in the Northern Areas where he hails from. His father Rodney says that they have always seen potential in him.

“He was very passionate about soccer, we all used to play soccer in the family and he used to train at the young age of 3 to 4 years with a ladies’ senior team. He used to break windows of the house just by kicking the ball and we could see then that he does have potential”, says his father.

His sister, Yolanda Freeman says the family is proud of him.

“He developed passion for the game as a goalkeeper and as family we used to encouraged him a lot to excel. As a family we are very proud of his achievement and I know he will not disappoint us”, Yolanda adds.

Williams’ mother Hazel has also wished Bafana Bafana well as they seek to draw inspiration from the 1996 team that won the AFCON trophy on home soil.

Coach Hugo Broos and Percy Tau at the MD-1 Press Conference. Bafana Bafana face off against Mali on 16 January 2024. #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 #AFCON2023 #BafanaPride pic.twitter.com/ZyIxAqEJhN

— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) January 15, 2024