Williams lauds Bafana Bafana's mentality after reaching World Cup knockout stage
Ronwen Williams has praised Bafana Bafana’s character after their historic World Cup knockout qualification, while coach Hugo Broos hit back at critics following the victory over South Korea.
Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams says he is extremely proud of the character and mentality they showed in their must-win final World Cup Group A match against South Korea.
South Africa, playing in the tournament for the fourth time, finished second in Group A behind co-hosts Mexico, who had a perfect record of three wins out of three.
South Africa, who last featured at the World Cup when they hosted it in 2010, were widely written off after their 2-0 loss to Mexico in their opening match.
But they battled to a draw against the Czech Republic and beat South Korea 1-0 in what was effectively a shootout for second place in Monterrey, thanks to Thapelo Maseko's second-half strike.
South Africa will face Canada, one of the tournament co-hosts, in Los Angeles on Sunday, with a place in the last 16 up for grabs.
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Williams says they used the criticism they have received over the last few days as motivation.
“The stress that we've gone through to play at this elite level is not easy. To keep a clean sheet against such quality opposition, to perform the way we did, defend the way we did, speaks volumes of the character of this team.
“I mean, I'm scared for the future of this country. These boys are 20, 19, 21 years old playing at this level. The experience that they are gaining will only help us as a country.”
Coach Hugo Broos said his team had shut up the "big mouths" after the Bafana Bafana qualified for the World Cup knockouts for the first time in their history.
"I'm very proud of the performance of my team, and I think we gave an answer to all those big mouths of the last weeks who thought that we had to change something," said a defiant Broos.
"We just did what we did. We just did what I wanted to do, and this is the result."
The 74-year-old, who has been at the helm since 2021, said reaching the second round was an emotional moment for South Africa.
"I said it already in the past that it will probably be one of the last games of my career, and when you can end a career as I had in this way, I think everybody or every coach dreams of it."
