Williams calls on Bafana to show continental mettle against Algeria

Ronwen Williams wants Bafana Bafana to show exactly why they ended up as Africa Cup of Nations btonze medalists, when they take on Algeria in an international friendly at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers on Tuesday (kick off 11pm SA time).

“Tomorow’s game is a big one,” said the Bafana captain in an interview with Safa media.

“They (Algeria) are the hosts, they are coming off a very bad AFCON. They have got a new coach and that can be dangerous, their players will all want to put their hands up and be counted.

“We have trained accordingly and we want to show why we finished third at the AFCON. We want that consistency of performance.”

Bafana are using these two friendlies – an experimental Bafana side drew 1-1 with Andorra in Annaba on Thursday – as preparation for the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Nigeria and Zimbabwe in June.

Williams is one of Bafana’s first choice players who is set to return to the side against the Desert Foxes, having been rested for Andorra.

The Bafana captain believes not too much should be read into Bafana’s 1-1 draw against the European minnows, a game in which just two players started who had started the bronze medal match against DR Congo at the AFCON.

‘So many chances’

“We were disappointed (to draw) as we felt they were there for the taking,” said Williams.

“We created so many chances but this was a different team to the one that we have had for the last two years.

“There were so many new faces … the main thing is that we didn’t lose. We wanted to win, but the coach said he wanted to give new players a chance to put their hands up.

“We created so many chances, we were strong enough to win, but it was one of those games. The coach had his reason for his approach, to give a lot of players an opporunity. So we don’t need to look too much into that game.”