‘He deserves it’, Broos on Williams’ Ballon d’Or nomination

Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos congratulated Ronwen Williams for his nomination for the Ballon d’Or award.

The Mamelodi Sundowns shot stopper has been nominated for the award alongside nine other goalkeepers from around the world including Emiliano Martinez of Argentina and Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin who are also vying for the Yashin Trophy gong that will be awarded on October 28 in Paris.

Broos feels Williams deserves the nomination especially after his brilliant displays for Bafana at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast earlier this year.

ALSO READ: Will Broos turn to Bafana’s Pirates stars in South Sudan?

“It’s surely something I’m proud of,” Broos told the media.

“If one of your players is nominated for the Ballon d’Or, but the other side when you see the performances of Ronwen and not only in the national team, also with Sundowns, but especially maybe with the national team and the latest AFCON.

“I think you can only say that he deserve it. So I looked a little bit with who he is on the list. For me, he has a chance to win it. But yeah, he’s only a South African and, you know, in choices or things like that, yeah, they’re sometimes looking for a bigger name. But when you see the performances of Ronwen, I think he deserves it, and it makes me proud,” Broos added.

Williams to miss South Sudan clash

Meanwhile, Williams will once again be a noticeable absentee when Bafana take on South Sudan in the AFCON qualifier on Tuesday.

The Bafana skipper was not called up to the squad because he was still recovering from an injury.

In his absence, Veli Mothwa started in goals when South Africa played to a 2-2 draw with Uganda at Orlando Stadium last Friday.

The AmaZulu didn’t have the best of games against the Cranes and it was his howler that led to the second goal for Uganda.

Following the error fans took to the social media asking for him to be benched for the game against South Sudan.

Broos, however, refused to accept he made a mistake by selecting Veli Mothwa in goal.

READ MORE: Bafana’s Broos denies mistake with Mothwa selection

“This is something you can say now (about Mothwa), maybe you should have done this or that.” said Broos after the match.