Williams attributes good run to team spirit

Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams has explained what finishing third in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) means for the players, who  will cherish the moment for a while.

Bafana returned to the country from Ivory Coast on Wednesday morning, where they achieved a third-place finish and clinched bronze after beating DR Congo on Saturday.

Speaking to the media, Williams, who had an outstanding tournament, said brotherhood and the camaraderie spirit among the players were the reasons for their impressive campaign.

“We are still living in a moment. It still feels unreal what we have achieved over the last few weeks,” Williams said.

“We’ve seen all the messages and all the records that we broke as a team. Of course, you are in the moment and you think about the next game. You don’t look for praise. You go on and on about these things.

“You just want to do well in the next game, so I’m just proud of the boys first of all, the brotherhood we had from day one. The togetherness is amazing to see.”

Williams also revealed that the motivation they got from sports minister Zizi Kodwa in the changing room after their defeat to Mali in the opening match inspired them to bounce back quickly.

After the loss to Mali, Bafana beat Namibia 4-0, drew with Tunisia, beat Morocco in the last 16, then Cape Verde in the quarterfinals. They then lost to Nigeria in the semifinals and beat Congo in the playoff match to finish third.

“When we lost to Mali, no one’s head dropped ... and the minister [Kodwa] was in the change room,” he said. “Yes, we were sad, but after that, the guys said we can still go out and reach the final and that was the talk that we can do it.

“Even though we lost [in the semifinal], we showed resilience, the mentality we have now as a team. We just need to keep going and fighting.”

Bafana have two back-to-back friendly matches against Algeria and Andorra, a tiny country situated between France and Spain in Europe, next month.