• The Bafana goalkeeper and captain was the hero against Cape Verde, saving a record four penalties to help the team win 2-1 and progress to the Afcon semi-finals. 
• Williams credited the team’s analyst for arming him with the information that saw him go the right direction for the Blue Sharks’ five penalties. 
• Bafana’s analysis of their opponents has been brilliant, but Hugo Broos – backed by the team’s performance – said good knowledge is nothing without instincts and follow-through. 
• For more Afcon news, go to the News24 Africa Cup of Nations Zone.

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Ronwen Williams’ brilliance illuminated South Africa on a Saturday night and Sunday morning when parts of the country were sitting in darkness because of Eskom’s failures. 

While the power utility ensured that South Africans are able to follow the Springboks’ every minute in their march to a record fourth Rugby World Cup title last year, Bafana supporters have had no such luck – with rolling blackouts throughout the team’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) campaign in Ivory Coast. 

Those who were affected by the blackouts missed not only one of the most impressive individual performances in a Bafana jersey in decades, but they were also denied the chance to see Bafana progress to the Afcon semi-finals for the first time since 2000. 

Williams saved four penalties, a record in a single match at the Afcon, to help Bafana beat Cape Verde 2-1 after the match ended goalless in two hours of football. This victory set up a date with Nigeria on Wednesday at Stade de la Paix in Bouake at 19:00 SA time.    

To get the better of the Super Eagles, Bafana will need to be switched on against a side that’s overcome an injury crisis, poor display in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and animosity between coach Jose Peseiro and his employers, to be two games away from a fourth Afcon title. 

But before South Africa could think about the Super Eagles, who had already booked their place in the last four when Bafana stepped into the Charles Konan Banny Stadium in Yamoussoukro on Saturday, they had to pass a tough mental test against Cape Verde. 

This was a tricky match for Bafana because they had to come off the high of beating Morocco, Africa’s No 1 ranked team and the first nation from the continent to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, and mentally prepare themselves for a side that they were expected to beat. 

READ| Brilliant Ronwen Williams sends Bafana Bafana to their first Afcon semi-final since 2000

Cape Verde’s recent record over Bafana, winning both their last World Cup qualifiers, and the upsets that have characterised this tournament made this a tough mission for Bafana. As expected, Bafana were awful against an opponent they didn’t need superhuman strength to get the better of.

This has been an ongoing problem for Bafana, with the team punching above their weight when they face heavyweights and easily floored when they take on minnows. This problem was especially evident in 2017 when Bafana raised their game to beat the Super Eagles in Nigeria and then lost to the Blue Sharks in Praia in their next competitive match. 

Previous coaches, including Stuart Baxter who was in charge of the team in 2017, have tried various ways to solve the problem. Baxter roped in a sport psychologist ahead of the 2019 Afcon, but by then it was too late as this is a problem that runs throughout SA football.

The so-called small clubs are brilliant against big teams while they are poor against clubs at their level with a handful of players able to dish out consistent performances. Very few clubs have sport psychologists, preferring the helicopter approach when they drop in during a crisis and then leave without really addressing the root of the problem.

Golden Arrows’ coach Mabhuti Khenyeza – who was one of the most prolific strikers in SA football during his time – even went as far as saying he doesn’t believe in sports psychologists because they have never played the game. It was an archaic thought, but he is not alone in backward beliefs. 

Khenyeza’s statement highlighted one of the challenges in the country’s game where certain quarters refuse to move with the times. One of the country’s most successful coaches, Gavin Hunt, once said video analysis of opponents is the “most overrated thing in the world”. 

Bafana’s win over Cape Verde proved otherwise, dragging the country’s football away from those dark-ages thoughts. 

“The analysts prepared me,” said Williams as he explained the effort that went into him saving four penalties, and which resulted in him being handed the Man of the Match award. 

“They cut so many videos. We studied the clips. I studied them to try and pick up trends. It’s not me, I give credit to the analysts (headed by Sinesipho Mali) and the goalkeeper coach (Grant Johnson) as well. They sent me so many clips, my phone is full of penalty clips.

“So, credit to the analysts for doing the work because it is not easy to get footage of some of the players because they are playing all over the world. Big up to the analysts for preparing the clips for me, to watch and study. They made my job 50% easier because I had an idea where most of the players went.”

Before the toss ahead of the penalty shoot-out, Williams did a final check to confirm that their research showed that Patrick Andrade would go to his left. Williams was assured that that was true. 

Armed with enough information on Cape Verde’s penalty takers, Williams went in the right direction for all five of the Blue Sharks’ penalties – saving four and beaten just once, and that was through sheer power. Andrade took Cape Verde’s fifth and final penalty, which Williams saved by diving to his left to send his team to the semi-finals. 

A central figure in the information that helped Williams take Bafana to the last four was technical scout and Bafana’s performance analyst, Mali. The 30-year-old is one of the sharpest and brightest minds in SA football. 

He has served in this role for various national teams, including Banyana Banyana during their historic FIFA Women’s World Cup run where they became the first South African senior national team to reach the knockout stage of the competition. Last year, Mali graduated as an international elite scout after taking part in Uefa’s Elite Scout Programme. 

Bafana’s analysis of their opponents at this Afcon has been spot on. They knew that their speed and quick interplay would trouble the lethargic Mali, they just were not clinical enough in front of goal to make them pay. 

Their route one approach against Namibia gave the determined but tactically disorganised Brave Warriors problems. Their structured showing against the Tunisians was just what they needed to shut down the Eagles of Carthage. 

Bafana read Morocco like a book, exposing their weak central midfield and the Atlas Lions’ inability to deal with the pressure of not being able to bully their opponents. While the team has heart, togetherness and resilience to challenge for the Afcon – the good analysis of their opponents has given Bafana an edge. 

However, that analysis without proper follow-through is not enough. “We prepared everything good,” said Bafana’s coach Hugo Broos. 

The best thing about this current Bafana generation is their ability to cover for one another. When one department or a player has struggled, they have rallied behind each other to cover those shortcomings.

But against Nigeria, they will need to ensure that every department and everyone is in sync if they are to beat the Super Eagles for the first time in an Afcon match, because in this tournament – Nigeria have a habit of knocking the lights out of Bafana. 

South Africa were eliminated by Nigeria in quarter-finals in 2019 and the semi-finals of the 2000 edition.

The light shining through this team, however, has shone so brightly so as to give South Africans belief that their dark days are behind them – so much so, that some joked that Williams could save Eskom if he was deployed there!