Africa-Press – South-Africa. Ronwen Williams feels the spirit in the Bafana Bafana camp ahead of two crucial 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin is so good he’s almost guaranteed they will do what’s needed to remain on course to qualify for the global showpiece.
The Bafana skipper spoke to the media on Thursday at the match venue, the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, where a victory against neighbours Lesotho may take Bafana to ten points and top of Group C.
Bafana can further entrench themselves at the top of the group if they beat Benin on Tuesday in Ivory Coast in what will the sixth round of ten.
Bafana tackle Lesotho having had a good 2024 in which they only lost only one match in 17 in open play and finished third in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations finals before ending the year with qualification for the 2025 Afcon which will be played in Morocco later this year.
“We know it’s a big week for us, big ten days and big two days coming up. The mood in the camp has been good. If you see the training, the intensity and mentality we had in the past few days, you can see how serious we are and we know what’s at stake,” said the Bafana captain who recently recovered from injury that kept him away from the Mamelodi Sundowns line-up in the first two months of 2025.
“It’s unfortunate that some of the guys who are always here are injured but just to show how special this group is, all of them sent messages. I even received a message from Sphephelo ‘Yaya’ Sithole yesterday (Wednesday) saying skipper all the best and wishing the guys all the luck and love from his side.
“We’ve come a long way as a team and we’re excited. Hopefully the fans will come out and be that extra motivation like they’ve been over the past few months. That also obviously helps, just to unite the country again.
“This is a new year and let’s keep going and build on the performances and the good things we did last year. Let’s build on this year and keep going and keep taking Bafana Bafana even to greater heights.”
Williams, who was chosen as best goalkeeper on the continent last year, insisted that the mindset in Bafana has vastly improved under coach Hugo Broos, the man who took the team onto the Afcon podium for the first time in 24 years.
The Bafana gloveman added that the injury he suffered playing for Sundowns early this year has come as a blessing in disguise for him
“No player wants to be injured but I think it came at the right time for me. I’ve so much football over the past few years, few months that injury has done me wonders. I’ve got more energy now and I’m looking forward to the games. I get more excited again,” said Williams.
“Before it was like you play every three days and there’s no excitement because you’re doing it over and over, and you don’t enjoy the game any more. So, it’s done me wonders and it has given me time to relax, to miss the game a bit and I’ve just got that spark back because, if you could see, there were some goals that I conceded that normally you don’t expect Ronwen to concede.
“We’re all human beings and we get tired, we get frustrated and it came for me at the perfect time. Now it’s the business end and now the team and the country need me more than maybe before. I’m over that and looking forward to finishing the year on a good note.”
The Bafana captain added that they can’t afford to take Lesotho for granted despite their failure to qualify for the 2025 Afcon.
“It’s going to be tough, Lesotho is a hard-running team, physical, but when I see the group and I see yesterday when we were watching Cameroon and Eswatini, the guys speaking about it saying this is what we can come up with tomorrow,” he said.
“We were watching I think the last 30 minutes and they were saying if Cameroon start playing an open game and change their way of playing, Eswatini can catch them on a break, and that’s what happened in the last ten minutes.
“It’s already for us painting the picture for us going into the game. If we mess around and if we change our game plan we can get punished. We’ve analysed, we know them but obviously we know ourselves as well as we know our strengths and I think that is key especially playing at home.
“We want to dominate and we want to win. Obviously we just want to go out there and show that we’re growing as a team because these are teams who gave us tough times but now it’s World Cup qualifiers at the business end and we need to show that we’re growing as a team.”
Williams spoke at length about what drives Bafana, the team everyone expects to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 2002.
“It’s the stability, the continuation,” said Williams of the squad which only lost to Mali at the beginning of Afcon last year.
“I think the coach (Broos) has found the right balance and structure and the structure is right, there’s always a room for success. But I think now everyone wants to play for Bafana Bafana again. When you see players coming in, I don’t know when last players were all in camp on a Sunday or Monday.
“It used to be dribs and drabs but now you can see players after the game they want to get on the plane, and they can’t wait to get into camp again. That is so amazing, and it just shows the team spirit and the brotherhood that the coach has built over the past few years. It’s been amazing and that is probably the reason we’ve been so successful.
“Just the brotherhood, and you can see it, within our clubs there’s rivalry but the moment the whistle blows it’s hugs, no kisses, but it’s just hugs and once we get to camp, we’re downing the same hat and we wear the same badge.”
Williams expects the Peter Mokaba pitch to be in tip-top condition after being harnessed after the damaged suffered during a music concert which featured Limpopo powerhouse singer Makhadzi late in December last year.
“From what we’ve seen of the pitch it looks amazing. I think the coach and the manager (Vincent Tseka) they were there to see it and we’ve got great feedback.
“Today (Thursday) is going to be the first time that we’re step on it but knowing the Polokwane stadium, I mean I’ve always had good memories here. It’s always one of the great pitches. Hopefully the same crowd that came to see Makhadzi performing will come, we’re hoping to see a fully packed stadium.
“With the Afcon (qualifiers) there was nice photo that was shared in the players group when we were playing for third and fourth place (at Afcon). I think it was over 10,000 people sitting together watching and it came from this area in Polokwane.
“Whenever I look at that picture it gives me goosebumps because us as players, we united the country and we brought so many people together in such difficult circumstances. We’ve got our own problems as a country but to see for 90 plus minutes everyone together it’s amazing.”
Bafana got a boost on Thursday when Benin played to a 2-2 draw in Durban against Zimbabwe. A win for Bafana will take them to 10 points, two ahead of Benin. And if Rwanda fails to beat Nigeria on Friday, Bafana will occupy top spot alone going into their clash against Benin in Ivory Coast on Tuesday.
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