Williams positive about chance to play Mbappe and company in France friendly

Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams says the side are excited about the opportunity to take on Kylian Mbappe and other French superstars when South Africa face Les Bleus in an international friendly at the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille on Tuesday evening.

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Mbappe missed France’s 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast on Friday but Les Bleus head coach Didier Deschamps has said he is available to take on Bafana, as France continue preparations for the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

“He (Mbappe) is one of the best players in the world, but we are looking forward to it,” said Williams yesterday, when asked about facing the 23 year-old PSG attacker.

“We want to give a good account of ourselves. We are not focusing on him, we are focusing on the French team as a whole, they have a strong team. But we believe in our qualities as a team and I am sure if we stick to our game plan and our structure everything will be fine for us.”

Bafana head coach Hugo Broos, however, said he would rather not be playing against Mbappe.

“It is a pity he is available!” said Broos.

“Mbappe is one of the best players in the world at the moment. Even when you have a plan to neutralise him there will still be a moment in the game when he is gone and scores.

“I would have liked my colleague (Deschamps) to have let him play against the Ivory Coast (and not against Bafana), but it is also a challenge for us. We know his qualities so we will not have a surprise with him. How to neutralise him is another question.

Bafana goalkeeper Williams, now 30, was only just starting his club career the last time Bafana took on France, Carlos Alberto Parreira’s side winning 2-1 in the group stages of the 2010 Fifa World Cup on home soil.

This was a France side in turmoil, after in-fighting in their camp, that finished bottom of the group, while the win for Bafana was not enough to qualify them for the last 16.

“When South Africa beat France I was happy,” said Williams.

“We were excited, there was a slim chance we could get out of the group, we had to score more goals and not concede. We saw all the headlines about what was happening in the France camp, but we were were also just happy to win the game to make our supporters happy.”