South African goalkeeper, Ronwen Williams, has explained why he couldn’t save any penalty during his side’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, semi-final game against Nigeria’s Super Eagles earlier this month.
Williams was the hero for Bafana Bafana in their shootout win against Cape Verde in the AFCON quarterfinals.
However, Mamelodi Sundowns shot-stopper was unable to save any of the spot kicks he faced during the semifinal clash with Nigeria.
The Super Eagles beat South Africa 4-2 in the shootout to progress to the final, where they eventually lost 2-1 to Ivory Coast.
However, after some weeks following the conclusion of the AFCON tournament, Williams has now revealed that he tried to get into the heads of some of the Super Eagles spot-kick takers, but his plan failed.
“Obviously, it is either you are going one of three sides, it’s either down the middle or left or right. Now they don’t want us to talk to the players anymore. I try to push the limits, so I go up to them and try to tell them where they are going so that at least I have cut out one side.
“They started studying me as well; you know, four out of five penalties went down the middle, so now I need to come up with better ideas,” the 32-year-old told CBS Sports Golazo.
Williams won the Golden Glove Award at the AFCON 2023 tournament.
AFCON: Why I couldn’t save penalties against Nigeria – South Africa goalkeeper, Ronwen Williams
