Williams makes another plea for Bafana support
"I mentioned this in my previous interviews that I don't feel the support," Williams said.
Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams (Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix)
Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams has made another passionate plea to South Africans to fill up Orlando Stadium on Saturday for the international friendly against Namibia.
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The goalkeeper touched on the disconnect between the public and the once mighty Bafana following years of underachieving on the international stage.
With qualification to next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast secured, Williams made another rallying cry to fans ahead of the game against the Brave Warriors.
“I mentioned this in my previous interviews that I don’t feel the support,” Williams said about the poor attendance.
“I don’t feel people speak enough about Bafana Bafana unless we lose. So when we’re doing well let’s hear that too. It’s not us against them (fans) we’re in this together.
“I can remember a few years ago, we used to be at the malls all the time. I don’t even remember how many times I was at Maponya Mall engaging with the fans but for the last few years we haven’t heard that. It’s just them and us, so we need to bring it back.
“Everyone wants to see Bafana Bafana doing well but we can’t do it on our own. We need everyone’s support. We need to do more to be out there and we’ll take the responsibility and discuss it with the technical team to say we need to do more of this. We need to mend this relationship (with fans) because we have a good thing going on with Bafana Bafana and we need each other.”
However, Williams is encouraged by the support they received from their last Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against a star-studded Morocco team, a match they won 2-1.
“We felt the love against Morocco and it was probably the best turnout that I’ve ever experienced playing for Bafana Bafana,” he added.
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“You could see them giving us that extra motivation to keep going and keep fighting against a quality side like Morocco and we showed that we can compete against the best.
“We kept fighting because the crowd was behind us. We urge them to support us during the good and bad times.”
AmaZulu shot stopper Veli Mothwa is expected to start against Namibia. Hugo Broos hinted at rotating his ‘keepers starting against Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday to showcase their worth for November’s world cup qualifiers.
