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Having seen the performances of young Bafana Bafana players during their remarkable Fifa World Cup campaign, captain Ronwen Williams is optimistic about the future of the senior national team.
Bafana coach Hugo Broos showed confidence in young players, especially in the heart of defence, where Ime Okon and Mbekezeli Mbokazi were paired throughout the tournament, while players such as Relebohile Mofokeng and Thapelo Maseko also performed well.
Williams believes their experience will be crucial for Bafana in future, as they plan to qualify for the next World Cup to be co-hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
“Definitely, I think they have been magnificent throughout the tournament, especially having two young centre backs in front of you,” Williams said.
“I mean, at that level, you have your experienced players there, and they showed their qualities. I’m so proud of not only the two of them, but there are so many young players in the team.
“I’m excited about the future of the country. To be playing at this level at such a young age, learning these lessons [and] experiences, it can only be a positive for the team and for the players.
“For now, we need to reflect and stick together as a team and as a country and build on this. It should not take us years and years again to be part of the World Cup. There needs to be a continuation, and I think there will be because the young players are picking up valuable experiences, playing at Afcon (Africa Cup of Nations), Club World Cup and this World Cup now.
“So, we need to keep going as a country and as a team.”
As they shift their focus to Afcon qualifiers from September, Williams highlighted the lessons they took from their World Cup campaign.
“We need to believe in ourselves. We showed that we can compete. We need to stick to what we know, but I think the most important thing to take out is how clinical they are,” he said.
“When I look back throughout the tournament, the number of chances we created and we only managed to score two goals.
“We need to be better, we need to be more clinical because at this level, you are not going to get too many chances, and the ones you get, you need to take them and wrap up the game.”
Sowetan
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