- Bafana's goalkeeper and captain was a hero against Cape Verde, saving a record four penalties and helping his team win 2-1 and advance to the Afcon semi-finals.
- Williams credits the team's analysts with providing him with information that pointed him in the right direction regarding the Blue Sharks' five penalties.
- Bafana's analysis of their opponents was excellent, but Hugo Bruce, backed by his team's performance, said good knowledge does not come without intuition and follow-through.
- For more Afcon news, visit News24 Africa Nations Cup Zone.
Ronwen Williams' brilliance lit up South Africa on Saturday night and Sunday morning, when parts of the country were plunged into darkness over the Eskom fiasco.
Bafana supporters were not as fortunate as the South Africans were able to follow every moment of the Springboks' march to a record fourth Rugby World Cup title last year thanks to the power company. There wasn't. This was due to rolling power outages during the team's African Cup of Nations (Afcon) campaign in Ivory Coast.
Those affected by the power outage not only missed out on the most impressive individual performance in a Bafana jersey in decades, but also the chance to see Bafana advance to the Afcon semi-finals for the first time since 2000. Ta.
Bafana Bafana captain and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams credited team analysts for saving four penalties against Cape Verde. (Photo provided by: SAFA Media)
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South African players celebrate their victory in the 2023 African Cup of Nations against Cape Verde. (Photo provided by: SAFA Media)
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Williams helped Bafana beat Cape Verde 2-1 after two hours of goalless football, saving four penalties, a record for a single match at Afcon. The victory sets up a match against Nigeria at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake on Wednesday at 19:00 ET.
To beat the Super Eagles, Bafana will need to flip the switch against a team that overcame an injury crisis, a poor performance in FIFA World Cup qualifiers and animosity between coach Jose Peseiro and his employers to win the title. We'll need to play two more games. Fourth Afcon title.
But when Bafana stepped into Yamoussoukro's Charles Conan Vanney Stadium on Saturday, they faced a tough mental test against Cape Verde before South Africa could think about the Super Eagles, who had already secured a place in the last four. I had to pass.
It was a tricky match for Bafana. This is because they have to come off the euphoria of defeating Morocco, the No. 1 team in Africa and the first country from the African continent to reach the World Cup semi-finals, and mentally prepare for their next opponent. It's a body. They were expected to win.
Read | Excellent Ronwen Williams sends Bafana Bafana to first Afcon semi-finals since 2000
Cape Verde's recent record against Bafana, with wins in both of their previous World Cup qualifiers, and the upsets that have characterized this tournament, makes this a tough task for Bafana. As expected, Bafana was terrible against opponents that didn't require superhuman strength.
This is an ongoing problem for Bafana, with the team punching above their weight when facing heavyweights, but getting floored easily when facing minnows. This issue was particularly evident in 2017 when Bafana powered through to beat the Super Eagles in Nigeria, only to lose to the Blue Sharks in Praia in their next match.
Previous coaches, including Stuart Baxter, who took over the team in 2017, have tried various methods to solve the problem. Baxter hired a sports psychologist ahead of the 2019 Afcon, but by then it was too late as this is a common problem across SA football.
So-called small clubs are good against big teams, but weak against clubs of the same level with a small number of players who can perform consistently. Few clubs have sports psychologists, preferring a helicopter approach when it comes to dropping in on teams in times of crisis and leaving without addressing the root of the problem.
Golden Arrows coach Mabuti Kenyeza was one of the most prolific strikers in SA football at the time, but sports psychologists even said they didn't believe him because he had never played in a game. It was an old-fashioned idea, but he was not alone in his backward thinking.
Kenyeza's statement highlighted one of the challenges in the country's game, that certain demographics refuse to move with the times. Gavin Hunt, one of the most successful coaches in the country, once said that video analysis of opponents is “the most overrated thing in the world.”
Bafana's victory against Cape Verde proved otherwise, and lifted the country's football away from the idea of the dark ages.
“The analysts prepared me,” Williams said, explaining that he was handed the man of the match award for his efforts in saving four penalties.
“They cut so many videos. We studied the clips. We studied to catch trends. It's not me. The analyst (coach Synesifo Mari) and the goalkeeping coach (Grant Johnson). Credit also goes to , who sent me so many clips that my phone is full of penalty clips.
“So I want to give credit to the analysts who did this job because some of the players play all over the world and it's not easy to get that footage. Thanks to the analysts who prepared the clips for me to study.''It made my job 50% easier because I knew where most of the players were going. ”
Before the toss before the penalty shootout, Williams made a final check to confirm the finding that Patrick Andrade would go to the left. Williams was convinced that was true.
Williams, who had ample information on Cape Verde's penalty takers, went in the right direction on all five of the Blue Sharks' penalties, saving four and losing only once. It was pure power. Andrade converted Cape Verde's fifth and final penalty, but Williams made the save by diving to his left, sending his team into the semifinals.
The central figure in the information that helped Williams lead Bafana to the last four was Mali, a technical scout and Bafana performance analyst. The 30-year-old is one of SA football's sharpest and brightest minds.
He has played this role with various national teams, including at the historic FIFA Women's World Cup when Banyana Banyana became the first South African senior national team to reach the knockout stages. Last year, Mari graduated as an international elite scout after joining UEFA's elite scouting program.
The analysis of Bafana's opponents in this Afcon was spot on. They knew their speed and quick coordination would trouble a lethargic Mali side, but they just weren't clinical enough in front of goal to make up for it.
Route 1's approach against Namibia posed problems for the Brave Warriors, who were determined but tactically disorganized. Their structural performance against Tunisia was exactly what was needed to contain the Carthage Eagles.
Bafana read Morocco like a book, exposing the weakness of their central midfield and the Atlas Lions' inability to cope with the pressure of bullying their opponents. The team has the heart, cohesion and resilience to take on Afcon, but good analysis of their opponents gave Bafana the edge.
However, analysis alone without proper follow-through is not enough. “Everything has been well prepared,” Bafana coach Hugo Bruce said.
Video analysts do a great job. But in the case of a penalty, if you tell the goalie, “This player shoots to the right, this one shoots to the left,” the goalie just does the opposite. These are penalties! Longwen had the information, but in the end he was the one who had to make the decision. But it helps. Help! Again, great job by the video analyst.
The best thing about this current Bafana generation is their ability to cover for each other. When one division or player struggled, they rallied together to make up for their shortcomings.
But against Nigeria, all departments and everyone will need to be in sync if we are to beat the Super Eagles for the first time in an Afcon match. Because Nigeria has a habit of knocking lights out from Bafana in this tournament. .
South Africa lost to Nigeria in the quarter-finals in 2019 and in the semi-finals in 2000.
But the light shining on this team shines so brightly that it makes South Africans believe their dark days are over. Some even joked that if Williams were sent to Eskom, he could save it.
