Ronwen Williams takes ninth place for Yashin Trophy ranking - a huge achievement

Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams was not able to clinch the Yashin Trophy at the Ballon d’Or awards in Paris on Monday night, which went to Argentina and Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Williams placed ninth in the final voting on the list of 10 nominees, itself a huge achievement, placing him in the top 10 keepers in the world in the 2023-24 season.

The Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns keeper’s nomination among some of the biggest names in his position came in a superb year that was crowned by being named Africa Cup of Nations goalkeeper of the tournament in February.

“It’s an honour and a privilege for me to be recognised among the greats. It’s a massive achievement. I still get goosebumps,” Williams said when entering the awards ceremony on the red carpet.

“Hopefully this will open doors for more Africans and more South Africans to get the recognition.”

Williams was asked if he looks up to the huge names with whom he was nominated.

“Definitely They play at the highest level, they play in the most prestigious tournaments and they’re doing well, so I try to steal from them and see how they stay at the highest level and I try to copy to try to be at their level.”

Williams made history in September as the first goalkeeper to be nominated for the award while playing for an African club. He was the only African in the 10 nominees.

The former SuperSport United player is the fourth African goalkeeper to be nominated for the Yashin Trophy — named after legendary Russian shot-stopper Lev Yashin — after Cameroonian Andre Onana, Senegalese Edouard Mendy and Moroccan Yassine Bounou.

A panel of journalists from the top 100 Fifa-ranked nations for men’s football and the top 50 for women’s football cast the votes. The journalists rank their top five players with points awarded by the rank: first place gets six points, second place gets four, third gets three, fourth gets two and fifth gets one point.

Williams saved four penalties in a quarterfinal shoot-out win over Cape Verde at this year's Nations Cup to take Bafana to their first semifinal in 24 years.

He kept five clean sheets in seven games at the Nations Cup, four of those in succession, and conceded three goals as South Africa won the bronze medal.

Williams also helped steer Sundowns to the 2023-24 Caf Champions League semifinals and seventh Premiership title in succession with a record 72 points.