Ronwen Williams (SuperSport United) with Itumeleng Khune (Kaizer Chiefs) during the South African national soccer team training session at University of Johannesburg. (Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
Williams received a lot of negative reviews about his performance in Afcon. The SuperSport United goal-minder said he absorbed all of the negativity and has come out a lot more confident and has a positive mindset as he is part of Molefi Ntseki’s team that has assembled to face Mali in the Nelson Mandela Challenge this Sunday at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
“There were negative talks but I don’t look at things like that. I focus on my game and things I can do better. I feel like I am mentally strong,” said Williams, who has been battling with Darren Keet for the Bafana gloves for the past year or so.
“I read a lot of stories about the top players like Cristiano Ronaldo and they say it is his mentality that makes him what he is today so I try to work on my mentality. Nothing can bring me down and I am just happy that I played and it obviously was not nice to exit the tournament like that but we learn from that,” he added.
The 27-year-old revealed that he took former Real Madrid and Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho’s advice on how to deal with naysayers.
“I read a quote from Mourinho when they (Madrid) got smashed 5-0 by Barcelona; he told his players to walk out and go to the malls and hear what the people are going to say. When I came back that is what I did. I did not hide. I heard all the things that people said and, to be honest there were a lot of positives and that is what boosted me. I know that I can do, I have proven it now and if given the opportunity again I need to stake my claim,” said Williams.
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