RONWEN WILLIAMS
South Africa’s AFCON 2023 penalty shootout hero and national team captain discusses Bafana Bafana, his club career, tactics and more
"You look settled now at Mamelodi Sundowns after two seasons at the club…
It has been challenging. It has been tough, because it’s a massive club, but they made it easy for me to settle down. That was the most important thing, for me to settle as early as possible, as quickly as I could. Settling down quickly helped me enjoy and show my worth.
What is it like playing for such an all-conquering club?
It’s the attention to detail. They check for the smallest detail, that extra 0.01 per cent to make you a better player. That’s how we are at the club, always looking to do better, even though we’ve been winning and haven’t lost many times. We analyse everything. They ask us to watch soccer all the time, to see how the bigger clubs in Europe are doing it, and we learn from them, we steal ideas and try to implement them to take our game to the next level. So all credit must go to the coaching staff, especially to Rhulani [Mokwena, Sundowns’ head coach], because he’s always looking for ways to improve his players, to improve the team. You’ll find him sending you video clips in the middle of the night, games to watch from overseas. He’ll be tagging you on things on social media, things that he feels you need to improve. That’s why we’ve been so successful; we don’t rest on our laurels, we’re always looking to improve every day.
How exciting will it be to possibly play against the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid in next year’s Club World Cup?
That we’re going to be part of this expanded tournament, with so many teams, speaks volumes for the club and the direction we want to go. We were part of the first African Football League too. It just shows the level that we are at and what we want to achieve as a club.
Mokwena has given you credit for some tactical innovations this past season. Are you able to make suggestions to him?
Yes, all the time. You’ll see me sometimes during the game running up to him and discussing something. Sometimes I don’t feel comfortable with a certain way, and he’s fine with that. He’s given me the license, the freedom to make changes if needs be, because, obviously, I can see things better on the day in the game. We’ve built that trust between us that allows me sometimes to change the build-up, to change the structure or change the way we press. He’s very open to suggestions from the players.
How much do you enjoy thinking about the game, tactics and coming up with concepts?
I love it. It’s so interesting to see where the game is. As much as everyone is playing a different way, there are so many clues, you can see lots of trends and ideas and you try to follow them, see how you c
