South Africa vs Angola: Williams opens up on strange AFCON preparations

Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams has confirmed the change of mood in camp ahead of a crucial Group B fixture on Monday against Angola.

Hugo Broos’ men are unbeaten in the last 26 games across all competitions explaining why they come into the game as favourites. In the last four Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) meetings, South Africa have secured two wins and drawn the rest.

The 1996 winners were forced to leave for Morocco without some players plying trade in Europe who linked up with team a couple of days ago. The Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper has explained how the mood was, before, and after all the players arrived.

Williams opens up on preparations and importance of win

“Obviously, we know that the preparations have been very strange, where the European-based players only joined a bit later,” he told the media ahead of their match.

“Once we were complete, you could see the mood was much better. The team spirit, the quality at training—everything just got much better as everyone arrived in camp. The boys know they are at the AFCON now,” Williams concluded.

Meanwhile coach Broos is aware of what awaits them, “We are very happy that we can start this tournament and play our first game. We all know that we will face a tough opponent [Angola], but I think that my team is ready.

“It is very important we win that first game. I think you make a big step for qualification for later or to survive the group stages. So again, we will try to win it and to put ourselves in a good position for the second game against Egypt,” the Belgian concluded.