‘Bafana should be in the final’

A “devastated” Bafana captain Ronwen Williams (above) believes they deserved to beat Nigeria on Wednesday and take their place in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) final.

South Africa were edged out 4-2 on penalties by the Super Eagles, with Williams unable to repeat his heroics in the penalty shoot-out that he had produced against Cape Verde a few days earlier.

“Obviously we are still devastated, there is….a lot of pain,” said Williams the morning after the night before.

“But I am so immensely proud of the boys, day-in and day-out we showed our resilience and our brotherhood.

“I think this team deserved to be in the final just for the brotherhood we showed, and the hard work we put in over the last five weeks. (But) as much as I am feeling sad, I am so proud of every member of this squad.”

Williams was encouraged by the messages of support from South Africa ahead of the semifinal, though he hopes the public will continue to get behind the team going forward.

“We felt the support, social media has been going crazy in the last few weeks,” said Williams.

“We have seen each and every message of support and encouragement. It is what I have been crying out for, for the public to get behind this team.

“But (we know) it is all about results. We have got the results now and hopefully this can be the start of building a relationship…together.

“We know what is possible (now) and we need each and everyone. We need the support to fill up the stadiums (at home) and we need them (the fans) to keep sending us messages of support. Even when we lose, we must stick together.”

Bafana can seal third place at the Afcon if they beat DR Congo in Abidjan this evening (kick-off 10pm SA time).