Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says he was surprised by goalkeeper Ronwen Williams’ uncharacteristic mistakes in Thursday’s international friendly against Mozambique at Mbombela.
Broos spoke about Williams’ mistakes in a post-match interview with Safa media officer Romy Titus.
The Belgian said the Mamelodi Sundowns custodian is one of the best players in the DStv Premiership when it comes to using his feet.
ONE OF THE BEST PSL KEEPERS
The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON)-winning coach, therefore, said he was surprised that Williams seemed to struggle with the ball at his feet.
“We just had problems with our own faults. Ronwen a few times and I am not used to see that from him because if there is a keeper who is very strong with his feet, then it is Ronwen and now is two times and those were very dangerous things,” he said.
Williams had a nervy start to the friendly, which saw South Africa come from behind to beat the Mambas 2-1 at Mbombela Stadium.
Williams nearly cost Bafana an early goal as his sloppy pass was intercepted by Ernesto who hit the upright.
Moments later, the Mambas put their noses in front after Nelson Daniel Divrassone intercepted Rushine du Reuck’s pass before rounding Williams to score.
BROOS HAPPY WITH OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Broos said he was impressed with the overall performance of the team, saying they controlled the proceedings.
“It is not only the win; it is also the way we have the win. It was a very good win. We have played a very good game,” he said.
“We did a little mistake in the beginning of the game, so it was 0-1 for Mozambique, but we controlled the game from the first minute to the last minute.”
The Belgian said there was also remarkable progress in terms of how players were responding to application of some basics noted from the previous game.
Broos said Bafana Bafana were making steady progress ahead of the remaining 2023 AFCON qualifiers, which resume next March.
“I think we can be happy with the performance. We saw something in September and we worked on it in the last few days,” he said.
“We talked with the players and that is a good thing to see as a coach that what you ask they are trying to do it on the pitch something.”
The ex-Cameroon coach said they were now focusing on the next friendly against Angola on Sunday.
“We will try to win the game also on Sunday and if we can do that, then I think we are more than ready for the important games in March,” he said.
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