Williams looking to inspire SA Under-23s at Olympics

As one of the senior players, Ronwen Williams is looking to inspire the South African national Under-23 team to do well at the Tokyo Olympics with their first game in Group A coming up against Japan at the Tokyo Stadium on Thursday.

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Williams, who is the SuperSport United captain says playing at the Olympics is a personal achievement for him and feels great about being part of the squad.

“As a senior okay, I’m here to do my job which is to okay football and hopefully inspire the younger players and guide them as I’ve been playing football at the highest level for over 10 years now. So, I’ll be sharing my experiences with them,” Williams told the SuperSport website.

“This is a massive personal achievement, one that I dreamt of, it’s a huge honour representing my country at such a prestigious event.”

The shot-stopper believes this is also an opportunity for the players to be scouted by big teams overseas and says having a number of current and ex SuperSport players it’s a good sign for the Pretoria based outfit.

“Hopefully some of the players can secure their dream move, this is a perfect opportunity to showcase our talents and capabilities,” he added.

“SuperSport United Football Club is known to produce quality players through our academy programme and it’s down to coaches like Kwanele Kopo and others who guided us. It’s so special having him (Kopo) here as well as some of my current teammates (Luke Fleurs and Teboho Mokoena) and ex-teammates (Kamohelo Mahlatsi, Mondli Mpoto and Katlego Mohamme). It’s a positive sign for the club.”

Willams’ experience will be vital for the South Africans, who have had to deal with a lot of issues in their preparation for the tournament. The Matsatsantsa and Bafana Bafana shot-stopper might start in goals for the team ahead of Mpoto and Sifiso Mlungwana.

Kickoff for this match is at 1pm.