Local star goalkeeper gets prestigious accolade at Afcon
With his dazzling performances at the recent Africa Cup of Nations tournament, Ronwen Williams of Mamelodi Sundowns not only focused the attention of football experts around the world on him, but he also received a prestigious award.
With apology to UFC-star Dricus du Plessis: Now the rest of Africa also knows what we have known for a long time…
Yes, Africa’s football fans now also know what supporters of Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana Bafana have known… That is Ronwen Williams is a world class goalkeeper.
Williams, goalkeeper of Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana Bafana, was named the Goalkeeper of the Tournament at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) award ceremony on Sunday.
On top of saving six penalties in shootouts at #AFCON2023, Ronwen Williams has made more saves (20) than any other goalkeeper at the tournament – 10 of the 20 were from shots inside the penalty area.
Surely Goalkeeper of the Tournament incoming. 🧤🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/mTtusVTfgq
— Joe Crann (@YesWeCrann) February 10, 2024
The local star, who also led the South Africans as captain, played a huge role in the success of the South African football team, which returned home with the bronze medal at the end of the tournament in Ivory Coast. He has made 20 saves during the tournament, more than any other goalkeeper. Just in penalty shootouts, he saved six attempts by opponents during the event. Ten of the 20 saves he made were attempts from inside the penalty area.
It was South Africa’s best performance at Afcon in 24 years, since they also won bronze at the tournament in Ghana and Nigeria in 2000.
Photo: South African Football Association
Although the 32-year-old Williams grew up in the Eastern Cape, he has been involved with local teams in Pretoria since his teenage years, when his first-class football career started around 2004.
He showed very early in his career that he has special talent and as a youth player even spent a period with Tottenham Hotspur in England, after being approached by local Atteridgeville club SuperSport United at the age of 16.
Williams made his professional debut for SuperSport United at the age of 20 in the local PSL and between 2010 and 2022 he protected the goal posts in 278 games for this club.
🏆 𝔾𝕆𝔸𝕃𝕂𝔼𝔼ℙ𝔼ℝ 𝕆𝔽 𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝕋𝕆𝕌ℝℕ𝔸𝕄𝔼ℕ𝕋 🏆
Ronwen Williams: South Africa 🇿🇦#SABCSportFootball #AFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/kVlscFBGg1
— SABC Sport (@SABC_Sport) February 11, 2024
During the 2022 season, he changed clubs, but remained a Pretorian, when Mamelodi Sundowns signed him. Since then, he has played 37 times for The Brazilians as a goalkeeper.
After representing both the South Africa U20 and South Africa U23 teams as a young player, Williams made his debut for Bafana Bafana in 2014.
Although he is already over the age of 30, Williams has certainly put himself on the radar of the world market with his performances at the Afcom tournament in Ivory Coast. Goalkeepers’ careers can last longer than ordinary players and therefore it will not surprise anyone if Williams soon receives big offers from clubs in Europe or Asia.
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