Williams confident Bafana can stand up to Super Eagles strike power

Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams is looking forward to the test posed by Nigeria’s array of attacking talent, when South Africa take on the Super Eagles on Wednesday in the Africa Cup of Nations semifinals at the Stade Bouake (kick off 7pm SA time).

In FC Nantes’ Moses Simon, Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, Nigeria have an attacking trio that is as dangerous as any left in the tournament.

Bafana, however, already beat Morocco’s glittering army of overseas-based talent in the last 16 and feel that their defence can stand up to any test, having conceded just twice in the entire tournament up to now.

“We are looking forward to the challenge, it is going to be tough but we have been facing similar players throughout the tournament,” said Williams on Tuesday.

“And our defence has been rock solid, it is not about me, it is about the team, we pride ourselves on our defending. Even the strikers and the wingers have been working hard and our back four has been amazing throughout.”

Bafana have lost all three of the previous times they have played Nigeria at an AFCON finals, and Williams was in goal for the last of those, a 2-1 loss in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Cairo.

It was Williams who misjudged a corner in the final minute of that game, allowing William Troost-Ekong to grab the winner for the Super Eagles. 

Bafana’s newest hero

Fast forward four years, however, and the Bafana captain was his nation’s hero in the quarterfinal against Cape Verde, rewriting the record books with four penalty saves in the shootout.

The Mamelodi Sundowns shot stopper is not concerned with Bafana’s poor record against Nigeria (they have won just one competitive match against the Super Eagles), heading into this encounter.

“We have had so many stats against us in this tournament and we have proved that stats don’t play the game. We can’t change what happened in the past but we can change tomorrow’s result.”

Nigeria received a boost yesterday with reports suggesting that Osimhen had recovered from an abdominal injury in time to face Bafana.

Bafana will be missing Sundowns winger Thapelo Maseko, who was injured against Cape Verde, and is out for the rest of the tournament. Head coach Hugo Broos said that Maseko would not be replaced in the squad.

“We have opportunities to solve the problem in the group,” said Broos, who is expected to name an unchanged starting line-up for a fifth game in a row.