Broos hails Ronwen: ‘If you save four penalties, it is not luck’

Hugo Broos praised Ronwen Williams for taking the luck out of a penalty shootout, after the Bafana captain saved four spot kicks to propel his side past Cape Verde and into the semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations.

“We were not lucky, we have a very good goalkeeper,” said Broos after the game.

“If you save four penalties it is not luck any more. He not only did that, he saved us two minutes before the end of the match, with a player alone in front of him. So yes, he is Man-of-the-Match, I think you can choose no one else.”

Williams produced a brilliant save to keep out Gilson Tavares in stoppage time at the end of the 90 minutes, and then saved penalties in the shootout from Bebe, Willy Semedo, Laros Duarte and Patrick Andrade.

His stop from Andrade sealed a 2-1 shootout win for Bafana at the Stade Charles Konan Banny in Yamoussoukro, and sparked wild celebrations, as Bafana reach their first AFCON semifinal in 24 years.

“Six hours ago I was 71 ,now I am 75!” joked Broos.

“It was a very stressful game. Certainly with penalties you never know what will happen.”

Broos was not impressed with the way his side had played over the 120 minutes on Saturday.

“It was our worst game of the tournament,” he said.

“We were better against Mali, Namibia, Tunisia and Morocco. I think for some players it was a new experience, and maybe the pressue and the nerves played a role today. For Cape Verde maybe it was different, they had nothing to lose, though they are very daf now.

“For us there was more to lose and I think that played in the heads of the players and they didn’t play freely. But … I already said it is not the way you win, it is that you (do) win. We won on penalties and I am very happy.”