By Micheal Madyira
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has dismissed an assertion that they needed a stroke of luck to reach the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals following a nerve-wracking penalty shootout against Cape Verde.
South Africa captain Ronwen Williams produced a masterstroke on Sunday morning by saving four penalties to help his team prevail 2-1 in the lottery kicks following a 0-0 draw after extra-time.
The match at Stade Charles Konan Banny de Yamoussoukro was a drab affair until the dramatic shootout.
“We were not lucky because we had a very good keeper today. If you can stop four penalties this is not luck anymore,” Broos told the media.
“You can stop one but here it’s four. This is not luck anymore. He did not only do that, he also saved us two minutes before the end with a player who was alone in front of him.”
“So yes, he was man of the match. I think you could choose nobody else.”
Since the year 2000, South Africa had not reached the semi-finals of this continental competition but mainly thanks to Williams, they can now dream of a first Afcon title in 28 years.
The Bafana skipper explains how he managed to perform his penalty shootout heroics.
“I give credit to the players, staff, technical team, the analysts and everyone who has been there,” said Williams.
“They prepare me, they cut so many videos, we study the clips. I study them as well, I try to pick up trends.”
“They send me so many clips, my phone is full of penalty clips so it is credit to the analysts for doing the work because it is not easy to get footage of some of those players because they play all over the world.”
“They made my job easier. I had an idea about where most of their players were going to take the penalties.”
Bafana now prepare to meet Nigeria in the last-four on Wednesday.
Pictured above: Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams is joined by coach Hugo Broos and his teammates in celebrating the team’s penalty shootout victory over Cape Verde.
Image source: Safa media
