Ronwen Williams captained South Africa to their first FIFA World Cup knockout-round qualification on Wednesday in Monterrey after a 1-0 victory over South Korea, a result that set up a round-of-32 meeting with Canada on Sunday.
Williams said he owed a debt to the players from Bafana’s previous World Cup campaigns in 1998, 2002 and 2010, praising those former stars for helping build belief in South African football. “You guys paved the way for us. That’s all I can say. You guys gave us the belief many, many years ago,” he told a Sporty TV studio that included 2010 captain Aaron Mokoena and 1998 and 2002 players Benni McCarthy and Quinton Fortune.
He described the moment as overwhelming and paid tribute to the influence of past teams even as he celebrated the current achievement. “As much as this is our moment, I also want to thank you guys for what you’ve done for South African football,” Williams said. He added he felt pride in leading the side and called the feeling “ecstatic.””,
Williams also went into the crowd to acknowledge 2010 Bafana goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune. Khune was in goal for South Africa’s 1-1 draw with Mexico in 2010 but was sent off in a 3-0 loss to Uruguay, which ended his tournament on home soil; Moeneeb Josephs then started the subsequent 2-1 win over France, the club noted in the studio discussion.
South Africa finished the group stage with four points for the second time in World Cup history, 16 years after 2010, but advanced automatically on this occasion. The round-of-32 match against Canada is scheduled to kick off at 12 p.m. local time in Los Angeles, or 9 p.m. South African Standard Time.
