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Williams in awe of ‘crazy good’ Mbappe
'He does everything at such a high level,' said the Bafana captain on the French superstar.
French forward Kylian Mbappe tore Bafana Bafana to pieces on Tuesday evening. Picture: DENIS CHARLET / AFP.
Ronwen Williams was the lucky recipient of France striker Kylian Mbappe’s jersey after Bafana Bafana’s 5-0 drubbing at the hands of France in Lille on Tuesday evening.
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It is not too much of a stretch to suggest that this is as close as any Bafana player got to Mbappe on a night in which the PSG superstar was the perfect illustration of the gap between top level football and the South African game.
Williams was also the most deserving recipient of Mbappe’s shirt, given that Bafana’s captain did more than anyone to keep the score down to just five, pulling off several fine saves. Mbappe’s strike partner Olivier Giroud was noticeably impressed, praising the SuperSport United goalkeeper after he had kept out a Giroud effort from close range in the second half.
“I got Mbappe’s jersey,” said Williams after the match.
“Fagrie Lakay got the pants! The whole French team is so humble, so nice. We all knew about Mbappe, but seeing it at first hand, it is crazy how good he is.
“He does everything at such a high level, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so quick, and he still keeps the ball.”
“All of them are superstars, Paul Pogba oozes confidence. Everything looks so easy, but that is the level they are playing at.”
“It was a wonderful experience, we learned so much,” added Williams.
“Playing the world champions wasn’t easy, they showed what their level is and it shows us where we are as a team. We have positives we can take out, it is going to make us better going forward.”
