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Williams to show respect to SuperSport in Tshwane derby
"I try to have as much respect for SuperSport as possible," says the Bafana Bafana captain.
Ronwen Williams of Mamelodi Sundowns (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
Expect muted celebrations from Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams should everything go according to plan against his former team SuperSport United in a DStv Premiership encounter on Tuesday.
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The two city rivals will meet in the highly-anticipated Tshwane derby at Loftus Versfeld with kick-off scheduled for 7.30pm.
Sundowns are on a 41-game unbeaten run in the league heading into the clash against their neighbours who were ironically the last team to beat them in 2022.
Before swapping the blue of Matsatsantsa a Pitori to the yellow of the Brazilians two seasons ago, Williams spent nearly two decades at SuperSport. He joined their highly successful youth academy at the age of 12.
“It depends on the type of save that I make. If it’s a match-saving one then I will (celebrate) because sometimes your body just takes over,” Williams said to Phakaaathi
“I try to have as much respect for SuperSport as possible. I don’t try to go over the top with any of my celebrations. Obviously, we want to win the game but I don’t want to go above and beyond with any celebrations.
“I owe my life to them and not only for what they have done for me in the first team but taking me as a 12-year-old and molding me into the player that I am today. I try to have respect when we win or lose because we lost to them in my first game against them.”
Their unbeaten streak is a record in the PSL-era from last season. Sundowns broke Kaizer Chiefs’ 18-year feat of playing 31 consecutive league games without a defeat, a record Amakhosi set in 2005. The big question is whether they can remain unscathed with 13 league games left to play.
“We don’t really speak much about it. We have the analysts who every month give us a breakdown of what we want to achieve and records that we have broken,” he said about prospect of going the whole season without a defeat.
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“That’s when we will speak about it because we see it and it was discussed with the technical team. It was put on paper and on the big screen but we have to focus and keep going for as long as possible.
“The coach always says that Arsenal has done and went unbeaten so why can’t another team do it. Bayer Leverkusen is doing it now so it’s possible.”
