South Africa captain Ronwen Williams has admitted the changes done in the squad were not anticipated and they negatively impacted the squad.
With no Premier Soccer League action, many players reported for camp early, but the Orlando Pirates and Stellenbosch members came later owing to MTN8's final engagement.
Hugo Broos was then forced to make changes; Stellies midfielder Jayden Adams was dropped owing to a discipline breach and Sinoxolo Kwayiba took his place. Thalente Mbatha – who has two goals in as many outings for his country, was replaced by Bathusi Aubaas due to an injury.
Bafana camp was not happy
The 32-year-old Williams has now revealed how those late changes affected the team's preparations for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo scheduled for Friday at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
“We weren’t happy at the start of the camp, there was a lot of instability, a lot of changes that were happening, and that’s unlike us,” the custodian told the media.
“We pride ourselves on professionalism and doing the right things because that has paved the way for the success we’ve had over the last few years. We had to have a debrief as players, to go back to basics again, and continue doing the right things.”
Conceding 10 goals in six games is so unlike Bafana!
In the last two matches, South Africa have conceded four games; Williams missed the two games due to an injury. Nevertheless, he is unhappy with the stats.
“The right things work for us, as players. I think it’s time we forget about Afcon… if you do a debrief, we have conceded 10 goals in six games, that’s unlike us. So it’s for us to put [2023] Afcon aside and focus on qualifying for [2025] Afcon and the [2026 Fifa] World Cup.
“So there’s been a change in mentality and you could see it this week in training once the team was together, the team spirit was there again, the brotherhood, the joy the happiness it’s been there.
“The new players have settled in well, they have been looking and we’re just looking forward to the game tomorrow and just like to urge Eastern Cape, Gqeberha to come out and support, show the love and support to the boys tomorrow night.”
After the Friday duel, the two teams will meet again on Tuesday in Congo. Six points for Bafana will be enough to see them get their Afcon ticket.