Ronwen Williams has revealed how memories of his late brother has inspired his career ahead of South Africa’s World Cup opener against Mexico on Thursday.
The Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper’s brother was killed in a car crash just a few months to the 2010 edition hosted in South Africa.
Speaking ahead of the opener against the co-host on Thursday, the Bafana Bafana captain revealed how special it would be to lead his country out for the game.
“That’s the beauty of sport, of football. I can remember 2010. The atmosphere for that opening game [a 1-1 draw] was electrifying. Everyone behind the country”, Williams said.
“He had so much high hopes for me. To know I’ll be leading out my team in the opening game, I can’t put it into words.
“It gives me chills. Sometimes I find myself just laying at night thinking [about] it.
“I always say the two most important games at the World Cup is the opening and the final, and Bafana Bafana is going to be part of one”, the Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper added.
“We know the pressure is going to be extremely high, they’re not going to make it easy for us. They’re going to intimidate us. They’re going to have the whole country behind them.
“I think we need to be realistic about our chances. The most important thing is to get out of the group,” Williams retorted.
“The mentality that we need to have is: can we compete? Can we show up? Can we perform?”
South Africa will also face South Korea and Czech Republic in group A and will be hoping to progress beyond the group stages for the first time in their history.
Olakitan is a young writer with a strong passion for sports, having gained experience with IndyPress and Nimelssa Press. His enthusiasm for sports inspired him to cover events both within his school and beyond. With a deep understanding of the game and a refined skillset, he brings sports coverage to a broad, global audience in a way that’s engaging and accessible.
