Ronwen Williams reacts to his AFCON heroics

Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was the hero during the 2-1 penalty shootout against Cape Verde to advance to the AFCON semi-finals. South Africa will now face Nigeria on Wednesday at 19:00 to fight for a place in the finals.

But the progression to the last four did not come easy as Bafana had to rely on penalties. The 32-year-old saved four spot-kicks on the night, the first by any Keeper at the tournament.

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The two teams played to a 0-0 draw after extra time despite the chances created by both sides.

“I give credit to the analysts,” said the Mamelodi Sundowns keeper. “They prepared me, they cut so many videos. We studied the clips, I studied them as well. Yeah, it’s not me [only who did the job]. Like I said credit to the analysts and the goalkeeper coach as well.”

BAFANA BAFANA PENALTY HERO RONWEN WILLIAMS GIVES CREDIT TO ANALYSTS AFTER AFCON SEMI-FINALS QUALIFICATION

“They sent me so many clips, you know, my phone is full of penalty clips. So, it’s a credit to the analysts for doing the work cause it’s not easy to get footage of some of the players because they are playing all over the world,” he said during the post-match conference.

“Big ups to the analysts for preparing the work for me to watch and study. They made my job 50 percent easier because I had an idea where most of the players were going.”

This is the first time that Bafana Bafana has qualified for the AFCON semi-finals since 2000 in Ghana and Nigeria. But they went on to lose to Nigeria in the semis, the same opponents they face on Wednesday. A win for Bafana would see them progress to the Finals for the third time in history. The other time was in 1996 when they won the Cup on Home soil and in 1998 when they lost to Egypt in the Final.