Williams calls on Sundowns to seize the moment in Champions League semifinal

Ronwen Williams believes Mamelodi Sundowns’ players can use all the experience gained in continental competition over the years to find a way past Tunisian giants Esperance and into the Caf Champions League final.

Masandawana host Esperance on Friday evening at Loftus Stadium, and need to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Tunis if they are to make the Champions League final for the first time since 2016, when Pitso Mosimane’s Sundowns beat Zamalek to lift the trophy.

Since then, Sundowns have made it out of the group stages in six of the last seven editions (their only failure to do that came in 2018), but have not made it to the final again, four times falling in the quarterfinals, and twice in the semis.

Sundowns did, however, win the inaugural Caf African Football League (AFL) last year, while a large part of the Sundowns squad were also part of the Bafana Bafana side that won the bronze medal at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals.

“In the last seven years Sundowns … have learned and gained experience,” said Williams, the Bafana captain who has been at Masandawana since 2022.

“The main thing we have picked up as a club is how to be a part of these major tournaments. The coach (Rulani Mokwena) said to us that every year we need to get out of the group, get to the semifinals and the final and build experience.

“You see that with Al Ahly (record Champions League winners and semifinalists again this year), they are where they are because of the experience they have. I think the last … years we have been there. We went to the quarterfinals, we have been semifinalists back-to-back

“There was the AFCON as well, it was good for the (Sundowns) players that so many of us were representing our country, to have our experiences of being in the semifinals (there), as well as being in the AFL final … the MTN8 final, we need to learn from all of this.

“That is why you see sides like Al Ahly and Real Madrid, they are always there.”

‘So much stress’

Williams has been key to Sundowns making this stage, with a heroic performance in the quarterfinal penalty shoot out against Yanga, similar to that he produced in the AFCON quarterfinals and bronze-medal match with Bafana.

He would rather, however, that today’s match does not go to penalties.

“There is so much stress on the technical team, the coach, the players as well (in a shootout),” said Williams.

“There is no pressure on the goalkeepers, we just enjoy it. But if it does go to penalties we will be confident.”