Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams says the players have had to reflect on their recent form post AFCON and insist there has been a change of mentality. South Africa finished third during the successful CAF AFCON tournament in Ivory Coast this year.
But they had mixed results since the tournament in both the Africa Cup of Nations and FIFA World Cup qualifiers. They won just two and drew four games conceding 10 goals.
Bafana will take Congo in their third match of the qualifiers in Group K at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Friday evening.
Williams who recently returned to the team after nursing a shoulder injury says the players had to do a reflection following a slump of form.
BAFANA BAFANA CAPTAIN WANTS TEAMMATES TO PUT THE AFCON DISPLAY BEHIND THEM AND FOCUS ON THE TASK AT HAND
“We had to have a debrief as players. Like the coach mentioned, just to go back to the basics again, continue doing the right things because the right things worked for us and that is us as players,” said Williams.
“I think now it’s time that we forget about AFCON. Since AFCON, when you do a debrief and you conceded 10 goals in six games that’s unlike us. So it’s for us now to put AFCON aside and focus on qualifying for AFCON 2025 as well as the World Cup.
“So there has been a change in mentality, and you could see it this week at training once the team was together. The team spirit was there again. The brotherhood, joy, and happiness. It’s been there,” he added.
“The new players are settling in well and looking good and we are just looking forward to the game tomorrow [Friday] and we just want to urge the whole of Eastern Cape to come out and support, show love to the boys.”
RONWEN WILLIAMS NOT HAPPY WITH HOW THE RECENT CAMP STARTED IN GQEBERHA
Williams also addressed the disciplinary issues that surfaced within the camp earlier on this week. This is after Stellenbosch midfielder Jayden Adams was withdrawn from the squad.
“As the coach has mentioned, obviously we were not happy at the start of the camp. A lot of instability, a lot of changes that were happening and that is unlike us,” he said.
“We pride ourselves with professionalism and doing the right things because that has paved the way for the success we had over the last few years.”
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