Mamelodi Sundowns keeper Ronwen Williams banks on their experience as they look to reach the finals of the CAF Champions League. Sundowns have to reverse the 1-0 defeat they suffered away against Esperance of Tunisia last weekend, but he admits they are stressed.
The Bafana Bafana skipper was rested in their DStv Premiership encounter against Sekhukhune United on Tuesday and will be available on Friday night. For Sundowns, Williams will have to keep a clean sheet and they must score two or three goals to reach the finals.
Ronwen Williams Admits Sundowns are Stressed for CAF Semis
Despite admitting they are anxious, the seasoned keeper is confident their experience in CAF football over the years will see them through. Masandawana host Esperance on Friday evening at Loftus Stadium, and need to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Tunis if they are to make the Champions League final for the first time since 2016 when Pitso Mosimane’s Sundowns beat Zamalek to lift the trophy.
Related: CAF Champions League: Mokwena Warns Sundowns To Expect Hostile Crowds In Tunisia
Since then, Sundowns have made it out of the group stages in six of the last seven editions (their only failure to do that came in 2018), but have not made it to the final again, four times falling in the quarter-finals, and twice in the semis.
“In the last seven years Sundowns…have learned and gained experience. The main thing we have picked up as a club is how to be a part of these major tournaments. The coach (Rulani Mokwena) said to us that every year we need to get out of the group, get to the semi-finals and the final, and build experience,” said Mokwena.
“You see that with Al Ahly (record Champions League winners and semifinalists again this year), they are where they are because of the experience they have. I think the last…years we have been there. We went to the quarter-finals, we have been semi-finalists back-to-back There was the AFCON as well, it was good for the (Sundowns) players that so many of us were representing our country, to have our experiences of being in the semi-finals (there), as well as being in the AFL final…the MTN8 final, we need to learn from all of this.
That is why you see sides like Al Ahly and Real Madrid, they are always there. There is so much stress on the technical team, the coach, and the players as well (in a shoot-out).”
“There is no pressure on the goalkeepers, we just enjoy it. But if it does go to penalties we will be confident.”
Mokwena Calls on Williams to be Decisive vs. Esperance
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In addition, the coach reflected on their African Football League glory when they defeated Wydad Casablanca at a packed Loftus, saying they must solve problems on the pitch. Sundowns will welcome midfielder Teboho Mokeona who missed the opening leg owing to a niggling injury he sustained against Moroka Swallows in the league.
“It has been one of my criticisms lately in our debriefs where I told the players that sometimes they wait for me to help them solve problems. Ronwen is probably one of the most important in that regard because I communicate a lot with him when he is on the pitch,” said Mokwena.
“When he gets the opportunity to sprint towards me and inform me of what’s happening, some of the things I don’t even see. He and Marcelo Allende are probably the two that are an extension of the coach, and they have such incredible tactical insight in relation to how we want to play and the schemes we want to adopt in and out of possession. I would like to see them take a little bit of responsibility to solve the problems when they face them and not wait for half-time corrections for us to say you could have done this or that. Sometimes half-time is too late.”
“The only time you will realise how important it was to be motivated from minute zero to 96 is after the game. You don’t want to find yourself in a position where you are grumpy, sad, disappointed and you feel like you have let yourself down. That is the feeling you will get if you don’t correct the mistakes there and then on the pitch because at the end of the match, it will be too late.”
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