Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams believes they have what it takes to get out of the Fifa Club World Cup group stages, emphasising they'll stick to their style of play even against some of the best teams on the globe.
Sundowns are pitted against German heavyweights, Borussia Dortmund, Fluminense of Brazil and Ulsan of South Korea in Group F of this expanded 32-team Club World Cup, starting from June 14-July 13 in the US.
“We will be ourselves and we will play our football ... we will stick to our identity. We don't want to go there and start changing things and play a different way because of the strengths of the opposition,” Williams said before the team's departure from OR Tambo International Airport on Sunday.
“We want to play our football and we believe that we've got enough to get out of the group and that'd be huge because when you look at the names in that group, it's big names in there. It will be tough, but we believe we will get out of it and show people who Mamelodi Sundowns are.”
Williams also admitted that it hasn't been easy to heal from losing the CAF Champions League final to Egyptian side Pyramids nearly two weeks ago, albeit emphasising being away from football, after they were given a week off, helped them a great deal.
We will play our kind of football at Club World Cup – Williams
'We'll show people who Downs are'
Image: Lefty Shivambu
Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams believes they have what it takes to get out of the Fifa Club World Cup group stages, emphasising they'll stick to their style of play even against some of the best teams on the globe.
Sundowns are pitted against German heavyweights, Borussia Dortmund, Fluminense of Brazil and Ulsan of South Korea in Group F of this expanded 32-team Club World Cup, starting from June 14-July 13 in the US.
“We will be ourselves and we will play our football ... we will stick to our identity. We don't want to go there and start changing things and play a different way because of the strengths of the opposition,” Williams said before the team's departure from OR Tambo International Airport on Sunday.
“We want to play our football and we believe that we've got enough to get out of the group and that'd be huge because when you look at the names in that group, it's big names in there. It will be tough, but we believe we will get out of it and show people who Mamelodi Sundowns are.”
Williams also admitted that it hasn't been easy to heal from losing the CAF Champions League final to Egyptian side Pyramids nearly two weeks ago, albeit emphasising being away from football, after they were given a week off, helped them a great deal.
“It's been a difficult time, having lost the Champions League final, but the good thing is that the coach gave us a few days off, five or six days off. You could see today when we got back at training that the energy was back,” Williams said.
“The most important thing was to reflect immediately after the game [the Champions League final] and after that it was also important to stay away from each other ... I mean we've played so many games this season, we've travelled so much as well, so those five days away from each other were important to re-energise and get that spark back.”
Downs' Club World Cup fixtures
June 18: v Ulsan at Inter & Co Stadium in Orlando (12am SA time)
June 21: v Dortmund at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati (6pm SA time)
June 25: v Fluminense at Hard Rock Stadium in Florida (9pm SA time)
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