Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams has reflected on his journey to earning his 50th cap for the national team, attributing his challenging beginnings as a key factor in becoming Bafana’s first-choice goalkeeper.
South Africa is set to face South Sudan this afternoon at Cape Town Stadium, where Williams is poised to achieve this milestone.
Now serving as Bafana’s captain, Williams made his international debut on March 5, 2014, against Brazil at just 22 years old. In that match, South Africa suffered a 5-0 defeat, with Neymar Jr scoring a hat trick and additional goals from Oscar and Fernandinho.
The 32-year-old described this match as the most pivotal of his career, explaining how the criticism he faced afterwards pushed him to elevate his performance.
“I think the most important game for me was the first game which was against Brazil. Even though we lost 5-0, I still have so many memories and that game taught me so much. It’s probably the reason why I am where I am today because I had to persevere,” said Williams.
“I was called many names and it made me strong at such a young age. I think I was 22 years old and there were so many doubts for many years. That game just made me at such a young age and turned me into a man and that is probably the most important game that I’ve played.
The 2022/23 PSL Goalkeeper of the Season has cemented his place in the national team set-up having played 49 games, conceding 52 goals and keeping 18 clean sheets.
He became the first South African goalkeeper to be nominated for the Yashin Trophy where he finished ninth following his impressive showings at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast and leading Bafana to a third-place finish.
Ronwen said the 5-0 loss against Brazil has been clouding him for the past ten years as people kept bringing it up, he had to have a remarkable performance at the recent Afcon tournament for people to change their minds about him.
“It’s years and years of sacrifice and the main thing is just perseverance and not giving up. My international career didn’t start on the best note and for long, I had to fight that and overcome it.
“It was difficult… it just couldn’t leave me, people kept bringing that up and it just stuck with me for such a long time. I had to have a wonderful Afcon at the highest level for people maybe to finally let it go. Even though it happened 10 years ago people still brought it up. It was just about controlling what I could control,” he concluded.